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ADELE DORING 

OF THE 

SUNNYSIDE CLUB 





“Suppose we have a club.” — 


Page lJf 




ADELE DORING 

OF THE 

SUNNYSIDE CLUB 


BY 

GRACE MAY NORTH 

1 i'l'fi ■<nmnnr '• 

jr» 

FOUNDER AND EDITOR OF THE SUNNYSIDE 
CLUB OF CALIFORNIA 


ILLUSTRATED BY FLORENCE LILEY YOUNG 




BOSTON 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 



Copyright, 1919 

By Lothrof, Lee & Shepard Co. 

All rights reserved 

ADELE DORING OF THE SUNNYSIDE CLUB 



UC! -I '919 


Norinooli ifwsa 

J. S. Cushing Co. — Berwick <fe Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 


Befcfcatefc to 


MARGARET EDNA ROCK 

AND TO ALL OTHER HAPPY-HEARTED GIRL 
FROM TEN TO FIFTEEN 



CONTENTS 


OH A PTE H 

I 

The Sunnyside Club 


PAGE 

11 

II 

The Secret Sanctum 


21 

III 

A Jolly Scrubbing-Party 


30 

IV 

Adele’s Secret 


47 

V 

Pleasant Plans 


55 

VI 

A Surprise Party . 


66 

VII 

A Birthday Feast . 


74 

VIII 

More Surprises 


85 

IX 

The Mother Goose Play-House 


99 

X 

Preparing for Examinations . 


113 

XI 

Vacation Days .... 


130 

XII 

The Fudge Party . 


142 

XIII 

The Two Dryads 


154 

XIV 

Pine Island .... 


166 

XV 

An Exciting Adventure . 


174 

XVI 

More Mystery 


183 

XVII 

The Little Bear 


198 

XVIII 

A Fish Supper .... 


208 

XIX 

A Trip to the City 


216 

XX 

Amanda Brown 


226 

XXI 

The Ball Game 

7 


233 


8 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

XXII 

The King’s Highway 

PAGR 

. 240 

xxm 

School-Days Again . 

. 252 

XXIV 

The House by the Wood 

. 264 

XXV 

A Visit to the Poorhouse 

. 274 

XXVI 

A Mystery Solved . 

. 287 

XXVII 

A Really, Truly Home . 

. 298 

XXVIII 

The New Pupil 

. 311 

XXIX 

Eva Begins a New Life 

. 326 

XXX 

Eva Humiliated 

. 336 

XXXI 

Something Unexpected . 

. 347 

XXXII 

A Happy Meeting . 

. 357 

XXXIII 

Farewell to the Orphanage 

. 365 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


“Suppose we have a club” (Page 14) . Frontispiece 


Facing Page 


Adele was holding her little audience spellbound 
Eric and Everett soon had a crackling fire . 
“The miser’s gold!” 


102 

210 

290 


9 


! 


ADELE DORING 

OF THE 

SUNNYSIDE CLUB 

CHAPTER ONE 

THE SUNNYSIDE CLUB 

There was spring in the air, 

Though the woods were still bare. 

There was fragrance all about, 

Though not a flower was out. 

There were seven girls so gay 
Off for a holiday. 

Across the April meadows they danced, 
a long row, hand in hand. Another month 
and the brown fields would be gold-and- 
white with daisies and buttercups. 

‘‘Look! Look! The pussy-willows are 
out !” Adele Doring called, as, with a shout 
of glee, she darted ahead of the rest, to- 
ward a bush which grew close to a low 

11 


12 


ADELE DORING 


stone wall and not far from a sparkling 
brook. 

When the others came up, they caught 
hold of hands and danced about the bush 
while Adele sang: 

“ ‘ Little Pussy-willow, harbinger of spring, 

We are glad to welcome you, such good news 
you bring.’ ” 

4 4 Adele,’ ’ drawled Rosamond Wright 
when they had paused for breath, “ I’m 
powerful worried about you, for fear you 
are going to grow up to be a poet or some- 
thing queer like that.” 

Adele laughed as she perched on the low 
stone wall and fanned herself with her 
broad-brimmed hat. 

‘ ‘ No fear of my being a poet ! ” exclaimed 
Doris Drexel, as she and the other girls 
sat down on the warm brown grass. “Why 
I couldn’t even make 4 curl’ rhyme with 
‘girl’ without being prompted.” 

Then Adele, having put her hand in the 
pocket of her rose-colored sweater-coat, 


THE SUNNYSIDE CLUB 


13 


gave a sudden exclamation as she drew out 
a piece of folded paper. 

“Girls!” she cried. “Lend me your 
ears! I have a secret plan to reveal.” 

“Aha!” quoth Bertha Angel. “So you 
had a sinister motive, as Bob says, for 
bringing us to this lonely, forsaken spot.” 

“You were wise to do so, if it’s a secret,” 
Rosie declared, “for even the walls have 
ears.” 

“Well, if this old stone wall wants to 
hear what I have to say,” laughed Adele, 
“it may listen and welcome.” 

“Do hurry and tell us!” cried the im- 
patient Betty Burd. “Your plans are 
always such jolly fun. 

“Well, then,” said i. d , mysteriously, 
“I’ve been reading a l ,ok.” 

“But there is nothing remarkable about 
that,” Doris Drexel exclaimed. “You are 
almost always reading a book.” 

Adele, not heeding the interruption, con- 
tinued: “And in this book dwell several 
maidens of about our own age. They be- 


14 


ADELE DORING 


long to a secret society and they have the 
best times ever. Now my plan is this. 
Since we seven girls are continually to- 
gether, suppose we have a club.” 

“Wouldn’t that be fun, though! ” ex- 
claimed Peggy Pierce. “I’ve always 
wanted to belong to one. ’ ’ 

“I choose to be treasurer!” declared 
Betty Burd mischievously. 

“Oh, Betty, you treasurer!” cried Doris 
Drexel in mock horror. “Then we never 
would know how our funds stood.” 

4 4 Don ’t you have enough of mathematics 
in school, little one?” Adele asked with 
twinkling eyes. 

4 4 Don’t I, thov' ! Oh, girls!” Betty 
exclaimed dismi 4 4 1 just know that you 
are all thinking o yesterday. Wasn’t it 
terrible ^vVhen I was at the board doing that 
problem and those visiting ladies came in 
and said that the} 1 were interested in 
watching the progress made by the young. 
I was so scared that every figure looked 
like a Chinese character to me, and how I 


THE SUNNYSIDE CLUB 


15 


did wish that a trap-door would open under 
my feet and let me gently down into the 
cellar. Luckily, Miss Donovan had no de- 
sire to be disgraced, and so she bade me 
take my seat and let Bertha do the prob- 
lem. ’ ’ 

“I hate math., too,” Doris Drexel de- 
clared. “I’m like the little boy who said 
he could add the naughts all right but the 
figures bothered him.” 

4 ‘ In truth, ’ ’ said Gertrude Willis, ‘ 4 there 
is just one of us who was born to be the 
treasurer of this club, and that one is Ber- 
tha Angel, — ‘the only pupil in Seven B 
who can add and subtract with unvarying 
accuracy,’ as Miss Donovan so recently 
remarked. ’ ’ 

“Good!” cried Adele. “Bertha Angel, 
you are elected treasurer, but your duties 
will not be heavy, for at present there is 
no money to count.” 

“I accept the responsibility,” said Ber- 
tha brightly, as she sprang up and made 
a bow. 


16 


ADELE DORING 


“Now,” Adele inquired, “who would 
like to be secretary?” 

“Secretary!” repeated Betty Burd 
blankly. “I thought that was a piece of 
furniture. My Uncle George has one in 
his study and it looks like a writing-desk. ’ ’ 

“So it is, fair maid,” drawled Rosamond 
Wright, “but didst thou never hear of one 
word having two meanings? The secre- 
tary which we want is a person to write 
down the clever things that we say and do. ’ ’ 

“I vote for Gertrude Willis,” called 
Doris Drexel. “Any one who could write 
such a composition as she read yesterday 
in assembly on the ‘ Rights of the Indian’ 
surely ought to be recognized as a genius 
in our midst.” 

“Thanks kindly,” laughed Gertrude; 
“I’ll do my little best.” 

“Girls,” exclaimed Adele, “our club is 
now the happy possessor of a secretary and 
a treasurer, but it has neither a name nor 
a president!” 

Peggy Pierce was on her feet in an in- 


THE SUNNYSIDE CLUB 


17 


stant, exclaiming, “ There is only one 
among us who could be our president, and 
she is” — “Adele Doring!” the five others 
shouted in enthusiastic chorus. 

“You see,” laughed Peggy, as she re- 
sumed her seat, “the vote is unanimous.” 

Adele, rising, made a deep bow as she 
recited with mock gravity, “Ladies and 
gentlemen, I thank you for the honor which 
this day you have conferred upon me, and 
I hope that my future acts and deeds will 
in no way betray the confidence which you 
have placed in me.” 

“Oho!” Bertha Angel declared. “That 
speech was in last week’s history lesson.” 

“I was hoping you’d all forgotten it,” 
Adele laughingly replied, as she sat again 
on the low stone wall. 

“Well, I had, you may be sure!” Betty 
Burd exclaimed. “But what is the club to 
be named?” 

“I had an inspiration last night,” said 
Adele, “so I wrote it down. I thought we 
might name the club after our beautiful 


18 


ADELE DORING 


suburban town of Sunnyside, and then I 
wrote this rhyme as a sort of pledge for 
us all to sign : 

“ We promise to look on the Sunnyside 
And be kind and cheerful each day ; 

To help the needy or lonely or sad, 

Whom we happen to meet on our way.” 

4 4 Oh, Adele ! ’ ’ moaned Betty Burd in pre- 
tended dismay. 4 ‘Why didn’t you tell us 
in the beginning that we had to be saints 
to belong to your club! If I should turn 
into a cherub too suddenly, my mamma 
dear wouldn ’t know me. ’ ’ 

“Don’t worry about that,” laughed 
Adele. “We aren’t any of us in danger 
of sprouting wings just at present. ’ ’ And 
then she added seriously, “But I do think 
that a club ought to stand for something 
more worth while than just fun and frolic. 
Of course we’ll have that, too; we always 
do.” 

“You are right, Adele,” exclaimed Ger- 
trude Willis warmly. 4 4 1 think it is a beau- 


THE SUNNYSIDE CLUB 


19 


tiful pledge, and I wish to be the first one 
to sign it.” 

Adele produced a stub of a pencil, and 
the paper went the rounds, each girl writ- 
ing her name thereon. 

i 6 Now,” said Adele, “only one thing re- 
mains to be decided upon, and that is, 
where we shall have our Secret Sanctum.” 

“Our which?” asked the irrepressible 
Betty Burd. 

“A place where we may hold our secret 
meetings,” Adele explained. 

“l 7 ou may use our attic if you wish,” 
drawled Rosamond, “but, I warn you, it’s 
powerful warm up there in the summer, 
and cobwebby. ’ ’ 

“An attic is all right on rainy days,” 
Adele replied, “but the blue sky is the roof 
for me, now that spring is here.” 

While she was talking, Adele ’s eyes were 
roving the meadow. Suddenly she saw 
something, and, leaping to the ground, she 
skipped about with delight, to the amaze- 
ment of the others. 


20 


ADELE DORING 


“Adele,” protested Peggy Pierce, “tell 
us, so we may dance, too.” 

“Ohee!” sang out Adele, catching hold 
of Peggy and whirling her around. “ I ’ve 
just thought of the dan-di-est place for a 
Secret Sanctum, but I’m not going to tell 
until I find out if we may have it. Meet 
me Monday morning under the elm-tree 
and then I will tell you. ’ ’ 

So ended the first meeting of the Sunny- 
side Club, which was destined, in the 
months to come, to bring cheer and happi- 
ness into many lives. 


CHAPTER TWO 


THE SECKET SANCTUM 

The town of Sunnyside lay in a wide 
valley, beyond which were sloping hills, 
and among them, clear and bine, nestled 
Little Bear Lake. 

To the south of the village there was a 
field which was so yellow in summer that 
it had been called Buttercup Meadows. 
Near it was a maple wood, and through 
the wood and across the field rippled a 
merry little brook. 

Now, in the meadow and near the wood, 
and close to the laughing brook, stood a 
picturesque old log cabin. Years before, 
when the nearest town had been ten miles 
away, Adele Doring’s grandfather had 
owned all of the land that one could see 
from the top of Lookout Hill, and in this 
log cabin his sheep-herders had lived. 


21 


22 


ADELE DORING 


The sheep and the herders had long since 
passed away, hut the old log cabin was still 
standing, and Adele ’s father now owned 
it, and, too, he owned the Buttercup 
Meadows and the maple wood and the 
laughing brook and Lookout Hill. 

It was that log cabin which Adele had 
seen on the day when the Sunnyside Club 
had been formed by the seven girls who 
were always together. They had been 
wondering where they could hold their 
meetings, when Adele had spied the log 
cabin, and she had thought at once that it 
would make an ideal Secret Sanctum, but 
she did not want to tell the others until she 
had asked her Giant Father’s advice and 
consent. 

The next morning, after breakfast, 
Adele revealed her plan. “May you have 
the log cabin, Heart’s Desire?” her Giant 
Father asked with twinkling eyes. “Why, 
of course you may! Uncover yonder ink 
bottle and I will deed it to you this very 
moment. ’ ’ 


THE SECRET SANCTUM 


23 


4 4 Oh, Daddy ! ’ ’• Adele laughingly ex- 
claimed. 4 4 1 don ’t want to own it that way. 
I just want your permission and mother’s 
to do with it as I like.” 

Mrs. Doring beamed on them both as she 
replied, 4 4 If your father is willing, daugh- 
ter, then so am I.” 

4 4 Oh, you darlings ! ’ ’ Adele exclaimed, 
joyously hugging them. 4 4 Thank you so 
much.” Then catching up her hat and 
books, away she skipped to school. 

The trysting-place was a big spreading 
elm-tree which stood in the middle of the 
girls’ side of the school-yard. Under it 
was a circular bench, and here the seven 
maidens waited each morning until all had 
gathered. 

When Adele rounded the high hedge 
which bordered the school-grounds, she was 
greeted with a joyous chorus from the six 
who were already there. 

4 4 Three cheers for the president of the 
Sunnyside Club!” cried Betty Burd, the 
irrepressible. 


24 


ADELE DORING 


“Hush! Hush!” laughed Adele, looking 
quickly about. ‘ ‘ Don ’ t you remember that 
it is a secret society!” 

“Luckily there is no one here but our- 
selves and the elm-tree,” Rosamond said. 

“Adele!” Gertrude Willis exclaimed. 
“Why are your eyes so shining and bright! 
Have you good news to tell!” 

“Indeed I have,” Adele replied gayly. 
“Just think, girls, we may have it!” 

“Have what!” asked the puzzled six. 

“0 dear, how stupid of me!” laughed 
Adele. 4 ‘ Of course I hadn ’t told you about 
it, had I! Well, you know that we wanted 
a place in which to hold our club-meetings, 
and I said I had thought of one if we might 
have it. ’ ’ The six nodded eagerly. 

“Well, then, we may, and it’s the love- 
liest, idealest place for a Secret Sanctum 
that ever could be thought of. ’ ’ 

“Oh, Adele, do tell us where it is,” 
begged Peggy Pierce. “I am ’most con- 
sumed with curiosity.” 

“Well, then, I will end your suspense by 


THE SECRET SANCTUM 


25 


telling you that it is the log cabin over in 
Buttercup Meadows. It belongs to my dad, 
and he is glad to let ns have it, and so is 
mumsie.” 

“Ghee!” squealed Betty Burd. “How 
I do wish that there was no school to-day, 
so that we might go right over to look at 
our newest possession.” 

“Let’s go at three!” exclaimed Adele; 
“that is, if our nice mothers do not need us 
after school.” 

The mothers not only did not need them, 
but one and all were glad to have their 
daughters out of doors as much as pos- 
sible in the pleasant spring weather, and 
so, as soon as the afternoon session was 
over, the seven maidens went hippety- 
skipping across the brown meadows. 

Adele was armed with a good-sized key, 
which was rusty with age, but which proved 
that its days of usefulness were not over, 
for, when it was slipped in the padlock, it 
turned with a creak and the door swung 
open. 


26 


ADELE DORING 


As first it was so dark within that they 
could see nothing, but soon their eyes, be- 
coming accustomed to the dimness, noted 
several objects about. 

“Oh, do look!” cried Doris Drexel in 
delight. “Here is rustic furniture which 
must have been made by the sheep-herders 
many years ago.” 

“Can’t we get some light on the subject 
and a little air as well?” exclaimed Bertha 
Angel. “It’s stifling in here. Good! 
Here’s a window,” she added as she pulled 
a leather thong from a nail and threw back 
a rude wooden blind, thus uncovering a 
square opening, and through it came, not 
only a fresh breeze, but also the slanting 
ravs of the afternoon sun, 

c/ 

“There! Now we can breathe,” said 
Adele, “and examine our possessions more 
closely.” 

There was a rude bed-couch, a rustic 
table, and several three-legged stools. 
These were fashioned out of the trunks of 
small trees, with the bark still on them. 


THE SECRET SANCTUM 


27 


4 ‘Oh, but this will make an adorable Se- 
cret Sanctum, ’ ’ exclaimed Betty Burd. 

4 4 Girls, ’ ’ drawled the romantic Rosamond 
Wright, 4 4 if only this furniture could talk, 
what tales of sheep-herder’s life it could 
reveal ! 9 9 

4 4 The place is so musty and cobwebby,” 
said the practical Bertha , 4 4 we shall have to 
scrub every inch with warm soap-suds.” 

4 4 Oh, Burdie, how could you throw soapy 
water on my poetical dreams!” moaned 
Rosamond, who did not even like to hear a 
scrubbing-brush mentioned, much less en- 
tertain the idea of wielding one. 

4 4 Tut! Tut! My children!” Adele inter- 
vened. 4 4 Now all listen to me. You know 
the spring examinations are due in a few 
weeks, and we must study, study, study , 
and cram, cram, cram , so let’s forget that 
the cabin exists until next Saturday, and 
then let ’s come out here with all the needed 
utensils, and, with Bertha to superintend 
the task, we will soon have the place as 
clean as a whistle. ’ ’ 


28 


ADELE DORING 


“Oh-h!” moaned Rosamond, and then 
she added mischievously , 4 ‘ I do believe that 
I’m going to be confined to my bed all day 
next Saturday with overstudyitis. ” 

“ Don’t worry about that,” laughed 
Doris Drexel. “You may have overtat- 
tingitis, Rosie, but never overstudyitis.” 

Rosamond had made yards and yards of 
tatting, which she said would some day 
adorn her wedding finery, and the other 
six often teased her about it, for, as yet, 
to them boys were playmates and brothers 
and nothing else. 

Then Rosamond dramatically exclaimed : 
“Girls, I will not fail you in the hour of 
need. Armed with my mother’s best 
feather-duster, to be used on pianos only, 
I will be here Saturday next at the ap- 
pointed hour.” 

“Well, I’ll bring an extra scrubbing- 
brush, Rosie,” said Bertha teasingly. 

4 ‘ And let ’s bring our lunches and stay all 
day if our nice mothers are willing, ’ ’ Peggy 
Pierce remarked. 


THE SECRET SANCTUM 


29 


‘ ‘ That we will ! ’ ’ exclaimed the six. The 
door was again closed and the key hidden 
under a log which served as a step. Then, 
hand in hand, the Sunny Seven, as Adele 
called them, hippety-skipped homeward, 
chattering like magpies and laying wonder- 
ful plans for the adornment of their Secret 
Sanctum, which, in the summer to come, 
was to be the scene of many a jolly lark. 


CHAPTER THREE 


A JOLLY SCRUBBING-PARTY 

The sky is always bluer, 

And the songs of birds more gay, 

And the meadow blossoms sweeter, 

Upon a Saturday. 

A week of lessons over, 

And long golden hours for play. 

Saturday dawned sunny and blue, and 
Adele was up at an early hour and down 
in the kitchen before Kate had set the water 
to boil. 

‘ 4 The top of the morning to you ! ’ 9 Adele 
called to the kindly Irish woman who had 
been cook in the Doring family since before 
Jack was born. 

‘ ‘ And it ’s yon, Colleen, ’ 9 said Kate, ‘ ‘ and 
some merriness you’re planning, to be up 
this early.” 


30 


A JOLLY SCRUBBING-PARTY 31 


‘ ‘Right you are!” the girl gayly replied. 
“I’m going to a picnic, and I want to bor- 
row a mop and a scrubbing-brush and a 
pail and some rags.” 

Kate held up her hands in pretended hor- 
ror as she exclaimed, “And a picnic do 
you call it?” 

“It truly is,” laughed Adeie, “and I 
want some sandwiches and pickles and 
some of those darling little cakes which 
you made yesterday morning, and — ” 

“Take anything that you can find, Col- 
leen,” said Kate, as she busied herself 
with breakfast preparations. 

So Adeie put up a bountiful lunch in a 
covered basket which she kept for the pur- 
pose. Jack, who was a year older than 
Adeie, sauntered out into the kitchen and 
helped himself to one of the chocolate cup- 
cakes as he exclaimed: “Say, Della, why 
don’t you ever ask us fellows to these pic- 
nics of yours? It isn’t fair for you girls 
to eat all the good things by yourselves.” 

“Maybe we will some day,” Adeie re- 


32 


ADELE DORING 


plied. And then she added merrily, “But 
you wouldn ’t want to be asked to-day. ’ ’ 

“I should say not,” Kate began, “with 
brooms and mops and pails — ’ ’ But she 
said no more, for Adele, springing up, 
whispered, “Hush, Kate! It’s a secret!” 

After breakfast Adele ran down to the 
barn, and Terrence, Mr. Doring’s handy- 
man, hitched her black pony, Firefly, to the 
little red cart. Into this were stowed the 
lunch and cleaning utensils, and then 
Adele drove out of the yard, waving to her 
mother and Kate. 

The homes of the other six were soon 
visited, as they were all in the same neigh- 
borhood, and each girl appeared with 
scrubbing-brush and apron and pail. 

“We’ll take turns riding,” said Adele, 
as she leaped lightly to the ground. 
“Betty, you may drive, and Gertrude Wil- 
lis, you climb in and ride and keep an e^e 
on the scrubbing-brushes, lest they attempt 
to hop out over the sides. The rest of us 
will trudge along behind. ’ ’ 


A JOLLY SCRUBBING-PARTY 33 


Gertrude had not been strong during the 
winter, and that was why thoughtful Adele 
had suggested that she should ride; and 
as for little Betty Burd, the youngest of 
the seven, to own a pony like Firefly was 
the dearest desire of her heart, but her 
widowed mother felt that other luxuries 
were more necessary. Adele, knowing this, 
took every opportunity which offered to 
give Betty the pleasure of riding or driv- 
ing Firefly. 

Across the meadow they went, a gay cav- 
alcade. Like all young things in spring, 
their hearts were filled with joy and they 
wanted to dance and sing. During the 
week the maple wood had changed from 
brown to silvery green, and there were 
patches of fresh grass along the banks of 
the laughing brook. 

“Hark!” cried Adele with glowing eyes, 
as she stopped and held up one hand. ‘ ‘ Did 
I hear it or did I not ? ’ ’ 

They all listened, and from a clump of 
bushes near there arose, sweet and clear, 


34 


ADELE BORING 


the morning song of a robin. Then, with a 
rushing of wings, the • redbreast was up 
and away. 

“ Cheerily ! Cheerily ! The robins sing. 

We’ve come to tell you. It’s spring! It’s 
spring!” 

Adele sang happily. 

“I hope you all wished on the first 
robin,’ ’ Rosamond exclaimed, “for that 
wish is sure to come true. ’ ’ 

“Well,” said Adele thoughtfully, “I 
don’t believe that there’s a thing in the 
whole world that I have to wish for. I’ve 
mother and father and Jack and a happy 
home and such nice friends. What is there 
left for one to desire?” 

“Lucky Adele!” Betty Burd said almost 
wistfully ; and then Adele remembered how 
lonely Betty and her mother were for the 
loved one who so recently had been taken 
away; but brave little Betty, sensing this, 
called cheerily, “Trot along, Firefly! Let’s 
run them a race!” and Firefly did trot 


A JOLLY SCRUBBING-PARTY 35 

along at such a gay pace that the brushes 
and pails rattled about and Gertrude had 
quite a time to keep them from bobbing out, 
while the girls on foot had to run and skip 
to keep up, and so, gayly, they soon reached 
the Secret Sanctum. 

Adele unhitched Firefly, with Betty help- 
ing, and then the pony was allowed to roam, 
for he never wandered far away from his 
mistress. 

The door and window of the cabin were 
soon open, and Bertha, who had been ap- 
pointed director-in-chief of the scrubbers’ 
brigade, began to issue orders. “Some- 
body fill the pails at the brook,” she said, 
“and somebody else be gathering sticks for 
a fire. Hot water gets things much cleaner 
than cold.” 

And so the girls skipped about, finding 
wood, and filling pails, and starting a fire, 
for, of course, Bertha had some matches. 

“Did any one think of scouring-pow- 
der?” asked Peggy Pierce, as she rolled 
up her sleeves and donned her big apron. 


36 


ADELE DORING 


Silently Bertha produced the required 
article. 

“Burdie, what an orderly brain you must 
have, ’ ’ Rosamond exclaimed in wonder and 
admiration. “I never would have thought 
of soap-powder in a thousand years.’ ’ 

‘ 1 You’d have brought the latest song or 
a bit of tatting, wouldn’t you, Rosie*?” 
Doris Drexel asked, to tease. But Adele, 
fearing that Rosamond might be hurt, 
hastily added, 4 ‘We need all sorts of people 
in this world to keep it balanced. Now a 
story-book is much more to my liking than 
soap-powder, but Rose and I are going to 
show you young ladies that we are as good 
scrubbers as any of you.” 

Rosamond smiled lovingly at her cham- 
pion, and then, as Bertha was giving fur- 
ther orders, they all gathered about to 
listen. 

“I think,” the director-in-chief was say- 
ing, “that it would be better to carry the 
rustic furniture all out by the brook, and 
then it can be washed there and dried in 


A JOLLY SCRUBBING-PARTY 37 


the sun, and that will clear the cabin floor 
and make it easier to scrub. Now, Ger- 
trude, you take charge of the outdoor work, 
but don’t you lift a thing, and Rosamond 
and Peggy will help you while the rest of 
us do the inside. ’ ’ 

Then the girls took hold of the rustic 
table, and, by turning it sidewise, it soon 
stood near the brook; the rustic bed-couch 
followed, and, with six to lift, it was not 
heavy for any. Gertrude protested that 
she was really much stronger than she had 
been, but they would not allow her to help. 

By this time the water in the pails was 
hot, and Betty Burd impulsively stooped 
to lift one of them from the fire, when Ber- 
tha warned : 4 ‘Don’t you touch that handle, 
Betty. It will burn you. Wait! I’ll show 
you how.” Then, taking the broom, Ber- 
tha slipped it under the hot handle. Betty 
took hold of the other end, and together 
they lifted the pail from the fire and placed 
it on the grass. The soap-powder was 
added, and, when the water was cool 


38 


ADELE DORING 


enough, the brushes were dipped in 
and the rustic furniture was drenched and 
scrubbed. 

“If there are any little bugs living in 
this bark,” Peggy said, “we bid them come 
forth.” 

“They’ll be drowned little bugs before 
many minutes,” Rosamond added, as she 
threw a pail of fresh water from the brook 
over the table, to rinse off the soap-suds. 
This they also did to the couch-bed and the 
stools, and then the rustic furniture was 
left in the warm noon sunshine to dry and 
sweeten. 

Meanwhile, the inside of the cabin was 
being thoroughly scoured, and many a 
startled spider darted out into the meadow, 
never to return. 

At last the four maidens appeared in 
the doorway, and Adele threw herself down 
on the warm ground as she exclaimed, 
“Well, if scrub-ladies get as weary as this 
in their bones, I’m glad that I’m planning 
to take up a different profession.” 


A JOLLY SCRUBBING-PARTY 39 


“Oh, you girls had the hardest part of 
it,” Gertrude declared. “Scrubbing the 
furniture was really like play.” 

“Well,” said Adele, “we seven have 
banded together with the firm resolve of 
looking on the sunny side of things, and 
the sunny side of this scrubbing is — ” 

“That it’s done,” Rosamond inter- 
rupted. 

“ I’ll agree that is one sunny side to it, ’ ’ 
laughed Adele, “and the other is, that we’ll 
enjoy our Secret Sanctum so much more, 
now that it is sweet and clean — ” 

“And bugless,” put in Betty Burd. 

Adele, heeding not the interruption, con- 
tinued, “And you know a thing that’s 
worth having is worth working for.” 

“Oh, Della,” cried Peggy Pierce, “would 
you mind postponing the lecture until after 
we have our lunch? I’m positively fam- 
ished.” 

‘ ‘ So am I, ’ ’ Rosamond declared. 

“Well, since we’re hungry, suppose we 
eat,” said the practical Bertha. 


40 


ADELE DORING 


‘ ‘ Hurrah for our treasurer!” cried 
Betty Burd, springing up and dancing to- 
ward the little red cart with a sprightliness 
which did not suggest weariness of bones. 
Then, climbing up, she handed out the 
seven baskets, and soon a tempting repast 
was spread on the paper table-cloth which 
Rosamond had brought. 

“Did ever sandwiches taste so good be- 
fore?” muttered Peggy Pierce, with a 
mouth full of bread and cold chicken. 

“Who said olives?” asked Adele, as she 
sighted a little pile in front of Rosamond. 

“Pardon me for not passing them 
sooner,” Rosamond exclaimed, with elab- 
orate politeness as she lifted the paper 
napkin on which they were heaped, but, 
this being moist, the olives fell through and 
rolled about on the table-cloth. 

‘ < Grabbing isn ’t manners ! ’ 9 Doris Drexel 
called, as Betty Burd pounced upon one. 

“There are two olives apiece,” said 
Rosamond, ‘ ‘ so you might as well grab that 
many if you wish.” 


A JOLLY SCRUBBING-PARTY 41 


“I did have a chocolate cup-cake apiece 
for us,” moaned Adele, “but that brother 
Jack of mine came out into the kitchen, 
and, without as much as saying 4 by your 
leave, ’ he ate the biggest, and when I went 
back to the jar for more, nary a one was 
left. ’ ’ 

“Never mind, Della,” Bertha condoned, 
‘ ‘ I have an extra sugar cookie, — they ’re 
made out of real cream — and you shall 
have it.” 

“Yum-m!” murmured Rosamond as she 
took a bite of her sugar cookie. “Aren’t 
they delicious ! I suppose you made them, 
Burdie. ’ ’ 

“I did that,” Bertha replied, expecting 
again to hear how practical she was. 

“You’ll make a good wife for a poor 
man, a missionary or somebody like that,” 
said Doris Drexel, as she nibbled daintily 
on her cookie, to make it last as long as she 
could. 

‘ ‘ Marry ! ’ ’ said Bertha scornfully. “I’m 
not going to marry anybody. ’ ’ 


42 


ADELE DORING 


4 4 Well, you needn’t be so snappy about 
it,” laughed Doris. “I didn’t mean right 
away, to-morrow. I know you’re only 
thirteen, though tall for your age. ’ ’ 

4 4 Girls!” the sentimental Rosamond ex- 
claimed. 4 4 Which one of us do you sup- 
pose will have the first romance ? ’ ’ 

4 4 Not I,” laughed Adele, as she sprang 
up and shook the crumbs from her lap ; and 
then she added reproachfully, 4 4 There’s 
somebody at this picnic who hasn’t had a 
bite to eat and it’s a shame, so it is. He’s 
coming now to tell us what he thinks about 
it.” 

The girls looked around and there stood 
Firefly, gazing reproachfully at them. 

44 I choose to feed him,” cried Betty 
Burd, springing up ; and dancing again to 
the cart, she called gayly, 4 4 Come on, you 
darling Firefly. Here’s the nicest hay for 
you, and some oats and a lump of sugar for 
your dessert.” 

The other girls repacked the baskets and 
tossed the papers on the dying embers of 


A JOLLY SCRUBBING-PARTY 43 


theii* fire. It had been made close to the 
brook, so that they could put it out quickly 
if the dry grass began to burn. 

Then, to their delight, they found that 
the floor of the cabin was dry, and so the 
warm, clean furniture was carried back in, 
and then Adele exclaimed, as she brought 
forth a pad and pencil, “Sit down every- 
body, and, since your brains are rested, I 
shall expect them to produce brilliant 
ideas. Now gaze about our Secret Sanc- 
tum and tell what it needs. ’ ’ 

“ There ’s a green fly coming in at the 
window,” Doris Drexel announced. “We 
ought to tack up mosquito-netting. ’ ’ 

“Good,” exclaimed Adele, as she wrote 
down the suggestion. “We’ll call that 
item one.” 

“I think we ought to make a sort of mat- 
tress for this hard couch,” Peggy re- 
marked, “if it’s intended for comfort.” 

“And sofa-pillows we need in plenty,” 
said the rather indolent Rosamond, who 
liked things luxurious. 


44 


ADELE DORING 


“I’ll contribute a pine pillow,” Doris 
volunteered. “I have such a fragrant one, 
and it’s just the thing for a rustic place like 
this. ’ ’ 

“We need a bowl for flowers,” said Rosa- 
mond. “Mother has a big blue one with a 
chip in it, and it would look adorable on 
the center-table filled with buttercups and 
ferns.” 

“Fine!” cried Adele brightly; “item 
five. And in every one of our pantries, on 
top shelves or in out-of-the-way places, 
there is apt to be chipped or cracked china. 
With our mothers’ consent, let’s bring it 
over here and have a china-closet. Then, 
when we wish to give a party, we shall have 
plenty of dishes.” 

“But where’s the closet?” asked Betty 
Burd, looking about as though she expected 
one to appear like magic before her. 

“We’ll make one,” Adele announced. 

“Make a china closet?” repeated Betty 
Burd in amazement. “Out of what?” 

“Orange boxes, no less, little one,” 


A JOLLY SCRUBBING-PARTY 45 


Adele replied. “I made a book-case once 
and covered it with flowered chintz, and it 
was just ever so pretty. ’ ’ 

“Dad will let ns have the boxes,’ ’ said 
Bertha Angel, whose father was the lead- 
ing grocer in town. 

“And my dear papa will contribute the 
cloth, I am sure,” Peggy declared. Mr. 
Pierce owned the Bee Hive department 
store. 

“Some magazines would look homey 
scattered around on the top of the table,” 
Gertrude remarked. “And then, we must 
have a bank in which to keep our funds.” 

“And you must have a little blank-book, 
Trudie, and write down in it all that we 
say and do,” Betty Burd declared. 

“Gertrude will certainly be kept busy if 

» 

she does that,” laughed Doris Drexel, “for 
some of us could out-chatter a poll-par- 
rot. ’ ’ 

“Naming no names,” said Betty Burd, 
making a merry face at Doris. There was 
one delightful thing about their youngest 


46 


ADELE DORING 


member, she always took teasing good- 
natnredly and joined in a laugh, even 
though it were about herself, as gayly as 
did the rest. 

“And then, when our Secret Sanctum is 
all finished and furnished we must have a 
house-warming party,’ ’ Rosamond de- 
clared. 

“Oh, won’t that be fun, though!” ex- 
claimed Betty Burd, whirling around like 
a top. 

“And we’ll invite Bob and Jack and all 
of the Jolly Pirates’ Club,” Doris Drexel 
added. 

These happy girls were soon to give a 
party at their Secret Sanctum, though it 
was to be very different from the one which 
they were so gayly planning. 


CHAPTER FOUR 


adele’s secret 

A secret! A secret! 

Who can guess the secret? 

There’s blue in it and green in it, 

And bird-song lilting gay, 

There’s dancing and there’s laughter 
And there’s mirth and merry play. 

i 

One Friday, after the Secret Sanctum 
had been furnished as the girls had 
planned, the six were waiting for Adele 
under the elm-tree in the school-yard. 

4 ‘Didn’t we have fun last Saturday!” 
chattered Betty Burd. 4 ‘But I don’t know 
what we would have done if Bob Angel and 
Jack Boring had not carted those heavy 
things to the cabin for us.” 

Bob Angel assisted his father after 
school-hours by delivering groceries, and 


47 


48 


ADELE DORING 


he had readily consented to cart the mat- 
tress and boxes to the cabin for his sister, 
Bertha, and her friends. 

“Pm so glad I found those bright-col- 
ored prints up in our attic, ” said Doris 
Drexel. “They are some my grandmother 
had, and, with their queer, old-fashioned 
frames, they are just suited to our Sanc- 
tum. ’ ’ 

“I can’t get over admiring the china- 
closet and the book-case,” Betty declared. 
“I never dreamed that such pretty things 
could be made out of just orange boxes.” 

Rosamond glanced at her wrist-watch as 
she exclaimed: “Here it is five minutes to 
the last bell. I never knew Adele to be so 
late before. What can have happened?” 

“If Adele is late to-day,” said Doris 
Drexel, “it will break her perfect record. 
She hasn’t even been tardy a moment this 
whole term.” 

“Ho! Here she comes now!” cried 
Peggy Pierce with a sigh of relief, for the 
girls would have been as sorry as Adele 


ADELE'S SECRET 


49 


herself if the perfect record had been 
broken. 

“What ever kept yon so long, Della ?” 
Rosamond called. “We’ve been waiting* 
here for almost fifteen minutes.” 

“Did you break a shoe-lace?” Doris 
Drexel inquired. 

“Nary a bit of it,” laughed Adele when 
she could get her breath. “I happened to 
see a clump of violets in a sunny corner 
and I dug them up, roots and all, and took 
them over to Granny Dorset. She told me 
last week that she was eager for the first 
violets to bloom; that somehow the ache 
in her bones got better then, and since she 
can’t leave her bed to get them for herself, 
I thought that I would take them to her, 
and she was so pleased ! I wish you might 
have seen her dear old eyes twinkle. ’ ’ 

“Oh, Adele, you’re always thinking of 
kind things to do,” Betty Burd declared. 
6 ‘ I wish I were that way ! ’ ’ 

“There’s the last bell!” called Peggy 
Pierce. 4 4 Forward ! March ! ’ ’ But Adele 


50 


ADELE DORING 


detained them, exclaiming: “Wait, girls; 
I have the most bean-ti-fnl secret to tell 
you, but I ’ll have to keep it now until after 
school! Meet me under the elm-tree just 
as soon as ever you can. ’ ’ 

Then into their class-room they went, 
but all through the morning session they 
kept wondering and wondering what new 
fun Adele was planning. In fact, Betty 
Burd was thinking so much about it that 
she could not keep her mind on her lesson, 
and when Miss Donovan suddenly asked 
her to name the capital of England, Betty 
was so confused that she answered, “Oh, 
it’s a secret!” 

“A secret?” exclaimed the mystified 
Miss Donovan. Poor Betty blushed as 
crimson as a poppy, and the other six girls 
just had to laugh. 

Then Betty explained that she had meant 
to say that London was the capital of Eng- 
land, but that she had been thinking of a 
secret. 

When at last the class was dismissed, 


ADELE’S SECRET 


51 


the Sunny Seven, as Adele called them, 
hurried out to the elm-tree, and Betty Burd 
exclaimed: “Wasn’t Miss Donovan a dear 
not to keep me in ! I was so afraid that she 
would, and then I couldn’t have heard the 
secret. ’ ’ 

“Like as not you deserved to be kept in,” 

Bertha Angel remarked, “but we are glad 

that vou weren’t.” 

%/ 

“Now, Adele, do tell us that secret,” 
pleaded Peggy Pierce, and they all listened 
with eager anticipation. 

“Look at me hard,” Adele said, “and 
see if you can guess my secret.” 

The six girls turned her around and even 
examined the big ribbon bows on her 
golden-brown braids, but they couldn’t find 
a clue to the secret. 

“Don’t I look a little bigger or older or 
something?” Adele asked. 

4 * Oho-ho ! I know ! ’ ’ cried Doris Drexel, 
clapping her hands gleefully. “Adele, it’s 
your birthday. ’ ’ 

“You are warm,” Adele replied, “but it 


52 


ADELE DORING 


isn’t my birthday yet. It’s just going to 
be. Think of it, girls! Next week I shall 
be thirteen years old and almost a young 
lady. ’ ’ 

“ Shall you do your hair up?” asked 
Rosamond Wright, whose dearest desire 
was to wear her curls twisted on high. 

4 6 Dear me, no, ’ ’ laughed Adele. 4 ‘ I shall 
wear braids until I’m twenty, I guess.” 

“Oh, Della, I do hope you’re going to 
have a party,” exclaimed Peggy Pierce. 
4 ‘ I have the sweetest new dress. It ’s white 
muslin, all scattered over with pink rose- 
buds, and I’m just pining to be asked to a 
party so that I can wear it. ’ ’ 

“Yes, I’m going to have a party,” Adele 
replied, “but you won’t be able to wear 
that dress to it, Peggy; it’s going to be a 
different sort of party.” 

“Oh-o-o!” came a wailing chorus. 
i ‘ Aren ’t we going to be invited ? ’ ’ 

“Not exactly,” laughed their favorite, 
“and yet I shall expect you all to be there.” 

“Oh, Adele!” Bertha Angel exclaimed. 


ADELE’S SECRET 


53 


“You are so mysterious and so provoking! 
Do you expect us to come to your party 
without an invitation f” 

“Of course not,” Adele replied, “and I 
won’t keep you guessing any longer. This 
is the way of it. Yesterday I went over to 
the orphan asylum to read stories to the 
very little children, as I do every Sunday, 
and when I was coming out I passed what 
I supposed was an empty class-room. The 
door was open a crack, and I thought that 
I heard some one crying inside. I looked 
in and saw a girl of about our own age sob- 
bing as hard as ever she could. I had never 
seen her before. I went nearer and said, 
‘ Little girl, can I do something to help 
you?’ At first she only cried the harder, 
but I sat down beside her, and at last she 
told me that her mother and father were 
both dead and that the people she had been 
living with couldn’t keep her any longer, 
and so they had sent her to the orphans’ 
home. I told her that she would like it 
there because the matron was so kind. 


54 


ADELE DORING 


“ ‘Yes,’ she sobbed, 6 1 shall like it, I 
guess, but next week Saturday will be my 
birthday, and mother always gave me a 
party, but now nobody cares.’ 

“I felt as though I would have to cry, 
too, but I knew that would not be the way 
to cheer her up, so I asked her to take a 
walk with me and I showed her the pleasant 
places around th^ Home. She loved the 
woods, she said, and when we went back, 
an hour later, I guess she felt better, but 
right then and there I decided that this 
year, instead of having a party for myself , 
I would give a surprise birthday-party for 
Eva Dearman. ’ ’ 

“Oh, Adele!” Gertrude Willis ex- 
claimed. “I am so sorry for that poor or- 
phan girl. May we help give the party?” 

“That’s just what I hoped that you 
would want to do,” said Adele happily. 
“I must skip home now and do my prac- 
ticing, but to-morrow will be Saturday, so 
let’s meet in our Secret Sanctum at three 
o’clock and make our plans.” 


CHAPTER FIVE 


PLEASANT PLANS 

The Secret Sanctum log cabin stood 
In Buttercup Meadows beside the green wood, 
And the birds at nest-building would pause and 
sing 

That joyous song which they carol in spring, 
And the brook as it purled on its fern-edged way, 
And the daisies and buttercups golden and gay, 
Were all of them telling, “It’s May! Lovely 
May!” 

And there the maids of the Sunny Clan 
Met one Saturday a party to plan. 

“Girls,” said Rosamond Wright, as she 
looked out of the cabin for the twentieth 
time, “it is quarter-past three and Adele 
not yet come.” 

“Oh, I forgot,” Betty Burd exclaimed, 
as she placed a bowl of daisies on the rustic 


55 


56 


ADELE DORING 


center-table, “Adele asked me to tell you 
that she might be a little late, as she had 
to go on a very important errand ! ’ ’ 

“ There is some one coming now on horse- 
back, ’ * Peggy Pierce remarked as she came 
up from the brook with a pitcher of spar- 
kling water. 

“All that I can make out is a cloud of 
dust,” said Bertha Angel, as she shaded 
her eves to look. 

“ It is Adele ! ’ ’ cried Betty Burd. ‘ ‘ She ’s 
turning into the meadow lane now.” 

The six girls ran out eagerly to meet the 
lassie, who came galloping up on Firefly. 
Leaping lightly to the ground, Adele let 
the pony go wherever he wished to browse, 
knowing that he would return to her when 
she whistled. 

The girls pounced upon their favorite 
and led her into the cabin, where she sank 
down among the soft-pillows, exclaiming, 
“I’ve ridden so fast, I’m ’most out of 
breath, but I knew that you girls would be 
waiting here, and so I came on a gallop. 


PLEASANT PLANS 


57 


Now be seated and I’ll tell you all about 
it.” 

Down on the floor the Sunny Six sat, 
tailor-fashion, and Adele began: “I’ve 
been over to the Orphans’ Home to see the 
matron, Mrs. Friend. She’s a dear! She 
was so pleased to hear that we wanted to 
give Eva Dearman a birthday party, and 
what do you think! That little girl was 
brought up just as nicely as we have been. 
Her father was a wealthy broker, but he 
lost his money, and then both of her parents 
died. Some neighbors took care of Eva 
until her money was all gone and then they 
sent her to the orphanage.” 

“ Heartless wretches !” exclaimed the im- 
pulsive Betty Burd. “ Seems like it 
wouldn’t have cost them much to have 
given the poor motherless girl a corner in 
their home.” 

“Well, they didn’t,” Adele continued, 
“and Mrs. Friend says that all Eva Dear- 
man has to her name is the deed to some 
worthless desert property in Arizona. ’ ’ 


58 


ADELE DORING 


“Oh, girls,’ ’ exclaimed the romantic 
Rosamond Wright, “what if there should 
be gold on that desert land, and what if 
our Orphans’ Home girl should turn out 
to be an heiress !” 

“Such things only happen in story- 
books,” said the practical Bertha Angel. 
“Now don’t let’s interrupt Adele again. 
We want to hear the plans for the party.” 

“Mrs. Friend told me that there are 
twelve girls in the Home who are just about 
our own age. One of them, Amanda 
Brown, is so surly and disagreeable that 
none of the others like her, and the matron 
said that we need not ask her unless we 
wish, but of course we would not think of 
leaving her out. ’ ’ 

“Perhaps a party is just what she 
needs,” suggested Gertrude Willis, the 
minister’s daughter. 

“And now,” said Adele, “don’t you 
think it would be nice to give a present to 
each one of the Home girls ? ’ ’ 

“It would be a nice thing to do, surely,” 


PLEASANT PLANS 


59 


Gertrude answered. “How much money 
have we in the club treasury V 9 

The girls had each given what they could 
to start a Sunnyside fund, and Doris 
Drexel, whose father was a bank president, 
had contributed a small bank in which to 
keep their wealth. 

Bertha Angel rose and said gayly, “I’ll 
go and get the bank and then we’ll count 
our money.” 

Now, back of the log cabin was a shed, 
and, one of the boards in the floor being 
loose, the girls had hidden their bank in a 
dark hole which they had found underneath 
it. The shed was then padlocked and the 
precious fund they believed was surely 
safe. It would have been safe enough had 
it been locked in the log cabin, as the girls 
well knew, but Rosamond had declared that 
it was much more romantic to steal out to 
the shed and place it in the dark hole under 
the loose board, and so, to please her, this 
had been done. 

Bertha took the rusty key and ran around 


60 


ADELE DORING 


to the shed. When the door was open, the 
girl noticed that the board was slightly 
lifted, and that the stone which they usually 
placed on it had been rolled away. What 
could it mean? Kneeling, she lifted the 
board higher and thrust her hand into the 
dark hole. But the bank was not there. 

Springing up, she ran back to the cabin, 
calling excitedly, i 1 Girls ! Girls ! What do 
you suppose has happened ?” 

The startled six rushed out of the cabin 
door. “Why, Bertha, what is the mat- 
ter?” Adele exclaimed. “You look as 
though you had seen a ghost.” 

“It’s worse than a ghost,” said Bertha 
dismally. “Our bank is gone.” 

“Gone!” echoed all of the girls in 
amazement. 

“Then we can’t give the party or the 
presents or anything,” wailed Betty Burd. 

“And I’ve spent all of my allowance for 
two months to come,” moaned Adele. 

The girls reached the shed and each one 
felt in the dark hole under the loose board. 


PLEASANT PLANS 


61 


“It must have been a tramp/ ’ Doris 
Drexel declared. 

“Maybe he’s hiding in the woods this 
very moment,” said Rosamond fearfully. 

“It couldn’t have been a tramp,” Bertha 
remarked thoughtfully, “because the door 
was locked and there is no window. ’ ’ Then 
suddenly she burst into a peal of merry 
laughter. The other six looked at her in 
puzzled amazement. 

“Why, Bertha,” Adele exclaimed, 
“surely there is nothing funny about it!” 

“Yes there is,” Bertha replied, her eyes 
dancing. “Don’t you remember that, at 
our last business meeting, we decided that 
our bank might be stolen, and that we would 
change its hiding-place ? ’ ’ 

“Oh, of course,” said Peggy Pierce. 
“And that very day I took it down-town 
and asked father to keep it in his safe. 
I’ve been cramming so hard for examina- 
tions, I guess, that now I can’t remember 
anything. ’ ’ 

“Never mind, Peggy,” said Adele, as 


62 


ADELE DORING 


she slipped her arm around the crestfallen 
girl. “Our memories all play strange 
pranks at times.’ ’ Then, turning to the 
others, she called, 4 * Come on ; let ’s don our 
hats and finish this meeting down at the 
Bee Hive, because, of course, we would buy 
the birthday presents there anyway. ’ ’ 

Firefly came on a gallop when Adele 
whistled, and whinnying for the lump of 
sugar which his mistress always had for 
him. 

“Gertrude, would you like to ride?” 
Adele asked. But Gertrude said that she 
wasn’t a hit tired and would much rather 
walk with the others. 

“Well then, Betty,” Adele began, and 
the others laughed at the happy eagerness 
with which that small girl clambered up on 
the pony’s back. Betty was only eleven, 
though she would soon be twelve. She was 
petite and dark and sparkling, and every- 
body’s pet. Away she galloped over But- 
tercup Meadows, her hair flying out like a 
mantle about her shoulders. 


PLEASANT PLANS 


63 


Half an hour later the six who were walk- 
ing reached the Bee Hive, and found Betty, 
flushed from her gay ride, awaiting them. 
Luckily at that hour of the day the store 
was not as busy as its name implied, and 
jolly Mr. Pierce gave his whole attention 
to the flock of happy girls. How he 
laughed when he heard the story of the 
lost bank. Out of the safe it was taken and 
the money was counted by the treasurer. 

4 ‘Exactly six dollars and thirty-three 
cents, ’ ’ she announced. 4 4 Now the question 
is, will that amount of money purchase suit- 
able birthday presents for twelve guests?” 

The girls had not noticed that during the 
counting Peggy, the darling of her father’s 
heart, had beckoned him to the back of the 
store and had begged him to be a dear and 
give them something extra nice for the 
orphans. Had the girls known about this, 
they would not have been as surprised as 
they were when Mr. Pierce stepped forward 
with a tray on which were ever so many 
necklaces with lockets of different designs. 


64 


ADELE DORING 


4 4 Oh-h ! ’ ’ breathed the six with delighted 
sighs. 4 4 But, Mr. Pierce, we never could 
purchase twelve of these adorable chains 
for six dollars and thirty-three cents/’ 

4 4 The cause is such a good one,” said 
Mr. Pierce, with a twinkle at Peggy, 4 4 that 
you may have them at cost. ’ ’ 

Then followed a rapturous fifteen min- 
utes, during which the girls selected twelve 
necklaces and lockets. 

4 4 Orphans always have to wear things 
just alike,” Adele declared, 4 4 and so I am 
sure that they would like to have these dif- 
ferent.” 

44 I suppose that we ought to give them 
stockings or handkerchiefs or something 
useful,” suggested Bertha Angel, the prac- 
tical. 

4 4 Maybe so,” said Adele, 4 4 but this time 
the poor things are going to have just what 
we would like for ourselves, — something 
useless and pretty.” 

When at last the twelve necklaces were 
chosen, each was placed in a little square 


PLEASANT PLANS 


65 


white box lined with pink silk. The Sunny 
Seven thanked Mr. Pierce and then away 
they went with their treasures. The twelve 
orphans, busily working at the Home, little 
dreamed of the pleasure that was in store 
for them. 


CHAPTER SIX 


A SURPRISE PARTY 

The eventful Saturday dawned bright 
and sunny. Adele awoke as soon as did 
Robin Red, who lived in the blossoming 
apple tree close to her window. Perched 
on a teetering twig, he caroled his good- 
morning song and Adele listened with a 
happy heart. 

“Such a beautiful, sunny day for our 
party,” she thought joyously as she hur- 
riedly dressed, tiptoeing about, that she 
need not awaken the rest of the family. 
The Sunny Seven had agreed to rise at 
dawn and meet at the log cabin as early 
as they possibly could, for there were many 
things to be done to make ready for their 
guests. 

Meanwhile, in the orphan asylum, which 
was a mile out on the Lake Road, the morn- 


66 


A SURPRISE PARTY 


67 


in g tasks were begun. The atmosphere of 
the place was homelike, due to the kindly, 
mothering heart of the matron. Windows 
were thrown open, and sunshine, fragrant 
breeze, and bird-song drifted in. 

Eva Dearman, upon awakening, had 
slipped a photograph from under her pil- 
low, and, gazing at the sweet pictured face, 
she had whispered softly, “Mumsie, dear, 
this is my birthday, and I m going to think 
that you are with me all day, and I ’m going 
to try to be brave and happy, just as I 
know you would want me to be. ’ ’ 

An hour later the older girls in the Home 
stood in line, waiting for the morning tasks 
to be allotted to them. Eva was next to 
Amanda Brown. To Amanda fell the task 
of sweeping and dusting the study-hall, 
while to Eva Dearman was given the pleas- 
anter one of sweeping the verandas, raking 
the gravelly walks, and tidying up the sum- 
mer-house. 

‘ ‘ That ’s always the way, ’ ’ grumbled 
Amanda, as the girls turned to get brooms 


68 


ADELE DORING 


and brushes. 4 ‘You have the easy work 
given to you, but they give me that horrid 
old study-room to clean. ’ ’ 

“I’ll tell you what,” Eva replied 
brightly, “I’ll hurry up with my work, and 
if there’s any time before sewing-class, I’ll 
help you with yours.” 

Amanda stared in amazement. Eva had 
not been long in the Home, and the girls 
were barely acquainted with her. 

Amanda Brown could not believe that 
any one really intended to be kind to her. 
She knew that the other girls did not like 
her, and she tried to think that she didn’t 
care, and so, instead of thanking Eva, she 
rudely retorted, “ Seeing ’s believing,” and 
away she went. 

Eva sang a little song softly to herself 
as she swept the front porch thoroughly 
and as quickly as she could. Then the 
garden-walks were raked until not a stray 
leaf or twig could be found. When her 
task was finished, Eva paused to listen to 
a bird-song as she thought: “Poor 


A SURPRISE PARTY 


69 


Amanda! It is hard to be shut in that 
dreary study-hall this bright morning. 
I ’ve half an hour left to do as I like. ’ ’ 

Almost longingly, she looked over toward 
the little wood where she loved to go when 
her task was done, but instead she skipped 
into the Home, and, dancing down the hall, 
burst into the study-room, exclaiming 
gayly : 4 ‘ Ho there, Amanda ! Seeing is be- 
lieving ! ’ ’ 

Amanda looked up in surprise. Indeed 
she could hardly believe her eyes when she 
saw Eva pounce upon the teacher’s desk 
and dust it thoroughly and vigorously. In 
fifteen minutes the work was finished, and 
Amanda knew that she ought to say 
‘ 4 Thank you,” but her stubborn spirit re- 
belled. However, just at that moment one 
of the younger girls appeared in the door- 
way and said: “Oh, Eva Dearman, here 
you are ! I’ve been hunting everywhere for 
you. Mrs. Friend wants you to come to her 
study at once, and she wants you, too, 
Amanda Brown. ’ ’ 


70 


ADELE DORING 


Puzzled, and wondering if they had done 
anything wrong, the two girls went down 
the corridor and Eva rapped on Mrs. 
Friend’s door. 

A kindly voice bade them enter. In the 
study were ten other girls, who looked 
flushed and excited. What could it mean? 

“Eva,” said Mrs. Friend, putting her 
arm about the girl and kissing her on the 
forehead, “we want to congratulate you 
on this your thirteenth birthday.” 

Eva blushed rosily as she replied hap- 
pily, “Oh, thank you, Mrs. Friend.” 

Then the matron continued, “Because it 
is Eva’s birthday, I am going to give you 
other girls who are near her own age a 
half -holiday, and so you may go now and 
take your baths and put on your best white 
dresses.” 

“Oh, goodie! goodie!” cried several of 
the girls, as they clapped their hands glee- 
fully. Then out of the door they went, 
remembering to be quiet in the halls. An 
hour later, fresh from the bath, they 


A SURPRISE PARTY 


71 


donned their best white dresses and their 
butterfly hair-ribbon bows, which their 
matron had given to them at Christmas. 

Eva, like a princess among her maidens, 
beamed on them all as she exclaimed : 
“You girls do look so pretty, every one of 
you! But,” she added suddenly, “where is 
Amanda Brown?” 

No one knew. She had not been in the 
bath-room, nor had she dressed, for her 
white gown was still lying on her cot. 

A bell was ringing, which called the girls 
below. Eva, alone, lingered behind, look- 
ing everywhere for Amanda. At last, 
pausing to listen, she heard a faint sobbing, 
which seemed to come from the linen-closet. 
Eva opened the door, and there on the floor 
lay Amanda in a miserable heap of brown 
calico. She looked up with eyes that were 
red and swollen. 

“Go away!” she said sullenly, but Eva 
leaned over and took hold of her hot hand. 

“Amanda,” she said gently, “please 
come out. Do you want to spoil my party ? ’ ’ 


72 


ADELE DORING 


“Pd spoil your party if I went to it,” 
sobbed Amanda. “Jenny Dixon said I 
would. She said that I am so cross and 
homely, she doesn’t see why I was invited. ’ ’ 

“Did Jenny Dixon say that to you?” 
asked Eva with a white face. 

“No-o, she didn’t say it to me,” Amanda 
replied. “She whispered it to Mabel 
Hicks, but she knew that I would hear, and 
I won’t go to your party! I won’t! I 
won ’t ! ” 

“Very well,” said Eva firmly, “then 
neither will I! Amanda Brown, do you 
suppose that I would enjoy my birthday- 
party for one minute if I knew that some 
one was left out and unhappy!” 

Amanda found it hard to understand 
Eva. “I don’t see why you should care 
about me/’ she replied; “nobody else 
does.” 

“But I do care,” Eva said sincerely. 
“Now please hurry, Amanda, and I will 
help you to dress.” 

With a strange new happiness in her 


A SURPRISE PARTY 


73 


heart, Amanda crept from the dark closet, 
and half an hour later the two girls went 
down-stairs to the dining-room arm in arm. 
Amanda, in her white dress, with the crim- 
son bows on her black braids, looked very 
different from the Amanda who that morn- 
ing had been dusting in the studv-hall. 

After dinner Mrs. Friend told the twelve 
to put on their best hats and go out in the 
front yard and watch for something to 
come down the road. 

“Oh! Oh!” cried Sadie Bell. “I do be- 
lieve that we are going somewhere. I sup- 
posed that the party was to be right here 
at the Home.” 

The twelve girls stood on the front lawn, 
Eva with her arm shelteringly about 
Amanda’s waist. Eagerly they watched 
down the road for — they knew not what. 

“Look! Look!’ cried Jenny Dixon ex- 
citedly. “Here comes something queer. 
Whatever can it be!” 

The girls ran to the gate and beheld a 
very strange vehicle coming. 


CHAPTER SEVEN 


A BIKTHDAY FEAST 

Twelve little orphan girls in white, 

Hearts a-brimming with delight, 

Watched with eager, dancing eyes 
For what? They knew not! 

A surprise f 

The twelve girls, flushed and excited, 
were peering down the country road at the 
strangest vehicle which they had ever seen. 
It was, in truth, a hay-rack covered with 
garlands of daisies and buttercups and 
drawn by two white horses with daisy 
wreaths about their necks. On the front seat 
was the driver, Bob Angel, with Adele at 
his side, while in the wagon part the Sunny 
Six sat on the soft new-mown hay. They 
were all dressed in white, and, to the sur- 
prise of the twelve orphans, the wonderful 
equipage stopped at their own gate. In a 


74 


A BIRTHDAY FEAST 


75 


twinkling Adele was on the ground, and, 
taking both of Eva’s hands, she kissed her 
on the cheek, exclaiming, “Lovely Queen 
o’ May! l r our carriage has come to take 
you away on this your thirteenth natal 
day. ’ ’ 

Tears rushed to Eva’s eyes as she ex- 
claimed, “Oh, Adele, you were so good to 
plan all this for me. ’ ’ Then, brushing them 
away, she said brightly, “I’d reply in 
rhyme if I could, for I do suppose that one 
should.” 

“Oho!” laughed Betty Burd. “Eva, 
you’re a poet and don’t know it.” 

“Come now,” said Adele, who was Mis- 
tress of Ceremonies, “we must start on 
our journey. Eva, you are to sit in state 
with the driver, and all the rest of us are 
to scramble up on the hay, because we are 
not so important to-day. ’ ’ 

“More rhymes,” laughed Peggy Pierce. 

Into the daisy-covered hay-rack the 
girls climbed, looking as pretty as the flow- 
ers themselves. Then Bob started the 


76 


ADELE DORING 


horses, Jerry and Jingo, and somehow they 
seemed to know that the spirit of fun was 
abroad, for they galloped down the road at 
a merry pace and the girls laughed and 
sang. Soon they turned into the meadow- 
lane. “What a darling log cabin!” Eva 
exclaimed, as they neared the Secret Sanc- 
tum. 

“Just wait until you see the inside of 
it,” said Adele. Then the horses stopped 
and out of the hay-rack the girls leaped, not 
waiting for Bob’s proffered assistance. 
Adele threw open the cabin-door and the 
guests entered with exclamations of 
pleasure. 

Bertha hung back for a few last words 
with her brother Bob, after which he drove 
the equipage over near the wood, un- 
hitched, and turned the horses out to graze. 
Then he took a short cut to the town. 

Soon the merry fun began. There were 
whirling and singing and dancing games, 
and after an hour of rollicking, Adele in- 
vited the guests to take a walk with her in 


A BIRTHDAY FEAST 


77 


the maple wood, so away they went, little 
dreaming of the delightful surprise that 
would await them when they returned to 
the cabin. 

When the last gleam of white had dis- 
appeared among the trees, all was hustle 
and bustle in Buttercup Meadows. 

“Quick now!” exclaimed Bertha Angel, 
who was Mistress of Ceremonies in Adele ’s 
absence. “We must hurry if we are to 
have everything ready in fifteen minutes, 
and Adele never can keep the orphans in 
the woods longer than that.” 

“The boys ought to be here this very 
second, if they are going to help us,” said 
Betty Burd. 

“Bob and Jack promised to be here 
promptly at four,” Rosamond remarked, 
“and it’s powerful close to that now.” 

“Well, you can depend on Bob,” Bertha 
exclaimed. “He is never even a fraction 
of a moment late. Being my brother, I 
know his virtues and otherwise.” 

“What is the otherwise?” asked Peggy 


78 


ADELE DORING 


Pierce, as the girls donned their big aprons 
and darted about at various tasks. 

“Oh,” laughed Bertha, as she heaped 
lettuce sandwiches on a big blue plate 
which had a crack in it, “Bob’s besetting 
sin is teasing me, and such pranks as he 
can invent!” 

“Well,” exclaimed Rosamond Wright, 
as she glanced at her wrist-watch, “your 
model brother is late to-day, for it is four 
to the second and there is no one in sight. ’ ’ 

“Oh, yes, there is,” said Betty Burd, 
as she came in from the brook with a bucket 
of sparkling water. “There are two col- 
ored men coming across lots just below 
here.” 

Doris Drexel looked out of the door, and 
then she sprang back with a startled cry. 
“They are negroes, and, oh, girls, what if 
they should be tramps? I do wish that 
Bob had been here on time.” 

‘ ‘ They are coming right this way, ’ ’ whis- 
pered Betty Burd. “Hadn’t we better 
close the door and lock it ? ” 


A BIRTHDAY FEAST 


79 


“Let me look,” said Bertha Angel, as 
she stepped fearlessly into the meadow. 
Then, to the surprise of the others, she 
called gayly, “Well, Rastus, do hurry up! 
WeVe wasted time enough as it is.” 

“Why, Bertha!” exclaimed Peggy 
Pierce in surprise. “Do you know those 
colored men?” 

“Know them? I should say that I do,” 
Bertha laughingly replied. And then she 
ran right up to one of them, and, shaking 
her finger at him, she exclaimed: “Aha, 
Bob Angel, now I know why you wanted to 
borrow my red silk handkerchief.” 

Then the other girls, their fear changed 
to laughter, trooped out of the cabin. 

“Jack Doring and Bob Angel!” Betty 
Burd exclaimed. “I never would have 
known you boys in a hundred years.” 

“We-all heard you wanted some wait- 
ers,” Bob drawled, trying to talk in negro 
dialect, “and we-all came to apply.” 

“Well, you-all are engaged,” laughed 
Bertha, “and now please do hustle.” 


t 


80 ADELE DORING 

Then every one bustled about. The boys 
made a long table with boards and saw- 
horses, and benches on each side were fash- 
ioned with boxes and more boards. Soon 
the tables were covered with flower-bor- 
dered paper table-cloths, and there were 
napkins to match. Two bowls of daisies 
and buttercups and ferns adorned the ends 
of the table, and in the very center was 
placed a huge birthday cake, which Mrs. 
Doring had made for Adele. It was frosted 
with white, and on it were thirteen pink 
candy roses, for Eva and Adele that day 
were both thirteen. 

Mrs. Drexel had sent chicken salad, and 
the girls themselves had made lettuce sand- 
wiches, which were piled in tempting array. 
Rastus, as they called Bob Angel, was just 
filling the last tumbler with pink lemonade 
when Rosamond Wright exclaimed, “Here 
comes Adele !’ 7 

There was a chorus of delighted excla- 
mations from the orphans as they ap- 
proached. 


A BIRTHDAY FEAST 


81 


“I didn’t know a table could look so 
beautiful,” Amanda whispered to Eva, as 
Adele motioned them to their places. Soon 
the festive board was surrounded with 
laughing, happy faces, and then Bob and 
Jack, as black as burnt cork could make 
them, greatly added to the merriment with 
their antics. They wore small white 
aprons, and each had a folded towel flung 
over one arm. They passed things with a 
flourish and talked a string of nonsense, 
trying, with more or less success, to imitate 
the negro dialect. 

The heaps of delicious sandwiches disap- 
peared rapidly, the pink lemonade was 
often replenished, and never before had a 
chicken salad been more appreciated. 

At last Adele called gayly, 4 4 Girls, we 
must leave a corner for the ice-cream and 
cake. ’ ’ 

“That’s right,” laughed Gertrude Wil- 
lis, while at the mention of ice-cream the 
orphans looked as though their fondest 
dreams were being fulfilled. 


82 


ADELE DORING 


“Gargon!” called Adele, who was just 
learning a bit of French. “You may clear 
the table.’ ’ 

The waiters put their black heads out of 
the cabin-door and cried, “Law, chile, wait 
a minute ! ’ ’ Later, when they did appear, 
each carried a partly eaten sandwich, for 
the boys did not intend to miss any of the 
good things themselves. 

Adele, to save Eva from embarrassment, 
agreed to cut the birthday cake, but first 
she counted noses. 

“Say, Miss Doring,” Jack drawled, 
“I’ll be ’bleeged to tell you, ma’am, I’se 
got two noses. ’ ’ 

How the girls laughed, for it is easy to 
laugh when the heart is light. So Adele 
allowed two pieces for each boy. When 
the cake had been cut and the generous 
slices passed, the waiters appeared with 
pyramids of frosty ice-cream. Then, when 
this had disappeared, Rastus came out with 
a basket lined with flowers, but piled in the 
center of it were little white boxes tied with 


A BIRTHDAY FEAST 


83 


pink and blue baby-ribbon. It was first 
passed to Eva, who chose the wee box 
which was nearest, and then waited until 
each orphan had drawn forth one of the 
dainty packages. 

“Now,” said Adele, with shining eyes, 
“open them all together.” 

How eagerly the ribbons were untied and 
the little boxes opened, and then what a 
chorus of rejoicing there was ! Eva had 
chosen just the one that Adele had hoped 
she would, a slender golden chain and a 
locket wreathed with pearls. When it was 
fastened about her neck Eva exclaimed, 
‘ ‘ Oh, Adele, how can I thank you ! ’ ’ 

But Amanda called their attention to her 
locket, which was set with pretty red 
stones. “I never owned a trinket before 
in all my life,” she said softly to Eva, who 
sat at her side. Then, almost wistfully, 
she asked, “Is it to be mine for keeps?” 
Eva fastened the chain about Amanda’s 
neck and softly assured her that it was to 
be her very own. The other ten orphans 


84 


ADELE DORING 


were equally pleased, and pretty the lockets 
looked as they hung around the necks of 
their new owners. 

Soon Adele rose and the girls sauntered 
about until the flower-bedecked equipage 
reappeared and they donned their hats. 

Eva held out both hands to Adele as she 
exclaimed gratefully, “If I live to be a 
hundred years old, I never can have a hap- 
pier day.” 

“You and I are going to have many 
happy days together,” Adele replied 
warmly. And then the Sunny Seven, who 
were staying behind to clear up, waved to 
the guests as long as the hay-rack and its 
black drivers were in sight. 

During the day Adele had often won- 
dered why none of the girls had congratu- 
lated her on its being her birthday as well 
as Eva’s, but she was of too generous a 
nature to feel hurt, and so she soon forgot 
all about it, but her friends had not for- 
gotten, as you shall hear. 


CHAPTER EIGHT 


MORE SURPRISES 

When Adele reached home after the 
orphans’ surprise-party, she found a note 
telling her that her father and mother had 
gone for a ride into the country. Jack 
Doring, having taken a bath, was changed 
from black to white again. Then, donning 
his very best suit, he announced that he 

might not be in until late; and, since this 

% 

was Kate’s evening out, Adele was soon 
left all alone in the big rambling house. 

Up to her room she went, just a bit weary 
from the long, busy day. Leaning back 
in her comfortable lounging-chair, Adele 
thought to herself, “It seems strange that 
even mumsie and dad have forgotten that 
this is my birthday, and Jack hasn’t said 
a word about it. But then, I could not have 


85 


86 


ADELE DORING 


had a nicer time if I had had a party all 
for myself. ” 

Then, closing her eyes, she drowsily lis- 
tened to the evening song of the robins 
who lived in the apple-tree just outside 
her open window. The crooning melody 
seemed to grow fainter and fainter to 
Adele; a warm, fragrant breeze from the 
garden brushed against her cheek, and soon 
she fell asleep. It was dark when she 
awakened, and she sat up with a start. 
What could it have been that had aroused 
her? Probably her father and mother were 
returning. The girl listened intently. Sud- 
denly something fell with a crash in the 
room below. Springing to her feet, she 
turned on the light, and, running to the top 
of the stairs, she called: 4 ‘Mother! Father! 
Is that you?” 

There was no reply, and for one brief 
moment Adele ’s heart stopped beating. 
There surely was some one down-stairs, 
but who could it be? Then Adele remem- 
bered that her big white Persian cat had 


MORE SURPRISES 


87 


been asleep on its cushion when she left 
the library. Of course it must be Fluff 
prowling about, and perhaps he had tipped 
over a bowl of roses. She ran lightly down 
the stairs and switched on the library 
lights. The white cat rose from his cush- 
ion and yawned sleepily, so Fluff had not 
made the noise. Adele had a strange feel- 
ing that some one was in the room, hidden 
and watching her. 

“I hope that I am not growing timid/ * 
she thought to herself ; and then, deciding 
that she would read for a while, she went 
out into the dining-room, where she had 
left her book. She was only gone one mo- 
ment, but when she returned, the library 
was in total darkness and she knew that she 
had left it lighted. Before she could be 
very much frightened, however, there was 
a rushing, rustling noise, and snap! the 
lights were on again. Great was Adele ’s 
surprise at finding the room filled with 
laughing friends. “Happy Birthday! 1 ’ 
they shouted. 


88 


ADELE DORING 


Adele sank down on a chair and looked 
so white and strange that Jack ran to her 
side and exclaimed, “Oh, Della, did we 
frighten you too much? I didn’t realize 
that it would be so scary . 9 9 

“I was afraid that we should frighten 
Adele,” Gertrude said remorsefully, as she 
knelt beside her friend. “That’s why I 
suggested that we go to the front door and 
ring. ’ ’ 

But Adele, quickly regaining her com- 
posure, sprang up with a laugh, and the 
color returned to her cheeks as she said: 
“No, you did not frighten me too much. I 
guess I am just surprised, and that is what 
one should be at a surprise-party, isn’t it?” 

Then, quite herself again, she chattered 
on gayly: “Do look at you all, in your 
pretty best! And Peggy has her heart’s 
desire — a chance to wear her new muslin 
with the rose-buds on it. It’s as pretty 
as can be, Peggy, and your pink sash is 
adorable. Well, now I must run up-stairs 
and dress.” 


MORE SURPRISES 


89 


“I’ll go with you and be your maid,” 
said Gertrude Willis, who was Adele’s 
dearest friend. 4 ‘You other girls may stay 
and entertain the boys.” 

With Jack as Master of Ceremonies, the 
fun soon began. Meanwhile Adele bathed 
and dressed in her prettiest. From below 
came the merrv strains of the victrola, 

%J 7 

playing waltzes and hops. When the two 
girls descended the stairway, they found 
that the library had been cleared of furni- 
ture. Mrs. Doring, having returned from 
her drive, had made this good suggestion. 

Then what a merry hour they had. Sud- 
denly the front-door bell rang and Adele 
skipped to open it. An expressman stood 
outside and he inquired, “Does Adele 
Doring live here?” 

“Yes, she does,” that wondering young 
lady replied, and then into the hall the 
expressman brought a wooden box, which 
he deposited on the floor. When he was 
gone Adele exclaimed eagerly, “Oh! Oh! 
What do you suppose is in it ? ” 


90 


ADELE DORING 


4 ‘ I’ll get the hammer and then we will 
find out,” Jack said. A moment later he 
was prying off the cover. There, among 
soft tissue papers, lay ever so many books, 
all bound in pale blue, and the set was 
called “ Stories That Girls Like Best.” 
Indeed, there was every title among them 
that a girl of thirteen could wish to pos- 
sess. Adele clasped her hands and ex- 
claimed rapturously, ‘ ‘ Who could have sent 
me such a beautiful gift?” 

i ‘ Here ’s a card, ’ ’ J ack said, as he handed 
it to her, and eagerly she read : 

To Our Darling Adele Doring 

from 

Her Sunny Six. 

“I just knew it!” cried their happy 
hostess, “and I do wish that I had arms 
long enough to hug you all at once. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Adele ! 9 9 exclaimed Betty Burd. i ‘ Don 9 t 
make such a terrible wish. An old witch 
might be lurking around and it might come 
true.” 


MORE SURPRISES 


91 


4 ‘ Well, I hope not,” laughed Adele, “for 
my beauty would surely be spoiled if my 
arms dragged on the floor. ’ ’ 

Jack and Bob carried the pretty blue 
books into the library and placed them on 
the center-table, and then the merry fun 
was renewed, when suddenly the side-door 
bell clanged and Adele skipped to open it, 
but there was no one outside. 

‘ ‘ Some one is playing a prank, I guess, ’ ’ 
she laughingly said. But Jack suggested 
that they turn on the porch light, and when 
this was done Adele saw a low bird’s-eye- 
maple table on which stood a beautiful 
drooping fern. When the boys had carried 
it into the library Adele gleefully clapped 
her hands as she exclaimed, “It’s just 
what I need for the bay-window in my 
room.” 

The little card which hung on the fern 
informed her that this was a gift from her 
brother Jack and his six boy friends, who 
called themselves the Jolly Pirates. Adele 
thanked them with shining eyes. 


92 


ADELE DORING 


“Now,” she said, “ surely the surprises 
are over,” but just that very moment Mrs. 
Doring called from the top of the stairs, 
“Adele, come up here a moment and bring 
the girls with you.” And so up the stairs 
they flocked, looking for all the world like 
a bevy of butterflies in their pretty muslin 
dresses and their manv-colored sashes. 

“Maybe it’s another surprise,” ex- 
claimed Betty Burd, who was enjoying 
Adele ’s happiness as much as did that girl 
herself. 

Adele ’s room was brilliantly lighted, and 
her adorable mother and her Giant Daddy 
were standing in the door, waiting. Into 
the room the girls trooped, and Adele gave 
a cry of joy when she saw a bird’s-eye- 
maple writing-desk, on which were rose- 
colored blotters and a silver ink-stand and 
scratcher, and holders for both pen and 
pencil. 

The card fastened to the desk read: 

To “Heart’s Desire” 
from 


“Giant Father.” 


MORE SURPRISES 


93 


These were the pet names which they had 
for each other. How Adele hugged him! 
And then he laughingly exclaimed, “Now 
put on your spectacles, for there is some- 
thing else in this room for you to find. ’ ’ 

Adele looked about, high and low. Sud- 
denly she spied a water-color painting in a 
rustic frame. It was a picture of their 
very own log cabin, painted when the 
meadow was yellow-and-white with daisies 
and buttercups. There were fleecy clouds 
over a sunny blue sky, and the woods in 
the background were fresh and green, and, 
as for the laughing brook, you could fairly 
see it sparkle and hear it gurgle as it 
danced along. 

“From Mother,” a little card told her. 

“Mumsie!” Adele cried. “An artist 
from the city painted it, didn’t he? I 
watched him one day when he was just 
beginning on the brook, and how I loved 
it, but I never even dreamed that I was to 
own it. ’ ’ 

Now, just at that very moment bells 


94 


ADELE DORING 


began ringing all over the house : the front- 
door bell, the side-door bell, the Chinese 
gongs, the little silver tea-bell clanged and 
jingled. What could it mean? 

“More surprises !” laughed Adele. 
“Come along, girls; let’s fathom the mys- 
tery.” 

So down the stairs the Sunny Seven 
trooped. Bob Angel stood in the lower 
hall, ringing a dinner-bell, as he chanted: 

“ Ding, dong, dell ! 

Hark to the bell-11-11! 

Come, follow me, 

And see what you will see!” 

“Bob’s happy now,” his sister Bertha 
jokingly exclaimed. “Like all little boys, 
he loves to make a big noise.” 

The girls trooped after the bell-ringer, 
and as they entered the library, the folding- 
doors slid silently open, and such a festive 
scene as they beheld in the room beyond ! 

A mahogany table was decked with shin- 
ing silver and sparkling glass, and in the 


MORE SURPRISES 


95 


center was a frosted cake with thirteen 
candles ablaze. Pretty name-cards told 
each guest where to sit, and of course Adele 
was at the head of the table and Bob at 
the foot. Kate, with her kindly Irish face 
aglow, appeared in the kitchen door-way 
and then Mrs. Doring came in to help pass 
the good things. 

“Two feasts in one day !” exclaimed Bob 
Angel. “I wish I had the capacity of 
Giant Blunderbuss of fairy lore.” 

The first course soon disappeared, and 
then the cake, with its twinkling candles, 
was placed in front of Adele to be cut. 

“Thirteen is going to be my lucky num- 
ber hereafter,” Adele laughed, and then 
she puckered up her mouth and blew the 
lights out. “Oho, here’s a card on the 
cake,” she called gayly, and then she read 
aloud, “For my little Colleen, from Kate.” 

“Another present!” cried the delighted 
girl. “Thank you, Kate, and when your 
birthday comes, I ’ll make you a cake. ’ ’ 

“Poor Kate !” Jack Doring said in mock 


96 


ADELE DORING 


sympathy. “I wouldn’t have a birthday 
soon if I were you, Kate, but if you do have 
one, be sure to hide the salt-box. You 
know why.” 

Adele laughed good-naturedly as she ex- 
claimed, 4 ‘Just because I put salt in one 
cake instead of sugar is no sign that I am 
going to do it forever after.” 

When the generous slices were passed, 
Betty Burd gave a squeal of delight. “Oh, 
do look ! ’ ’ she cried. ‘ ‘ There are things in 
the cake to tell our fortunes.” 

“Mine is a piece of straw,” Dick Jensen 
chuckled. “So I am to be a farmer, I sup- 
pose. Well, I’d like nothing better.” 

“Alas and alack !” moaned Doris Drexel. 
“I have a thimble, and I just hate sewing, 
but I suppose that I shall have to be re- 
signed to my fate.” 

“See what I have!” Jack Doring ex- 
claimed, as triumphantly he held aloft a 
silver dime. “I just felt in my bones that 
I was going to be rich some day.” 

“Not if you have to work for it,” teased 


MORE SURPRISES 


97 


Adele, for Jack was rather inclined to be 
indolent. 

“I wasn’t planning to work,” Jack re- 
plied calmly. “I shall find a gold mine or 
some little thing like that. ’ 9 

“Poor little me!” moaned Rosamond 
Wright. “There doesn’t seem to be a 
thing in my piece of cake. ’ ’ 

Rosamond, in her pink dress, with her 
flushed face and short golden curls, looked 
as pretty as the flower after which she had 
been named. 

“Don’t give up, Rosie,” Bob Angel 
called. 4 ‘ Seems to me I see a glint of gold 
there in the frosting.” 

Eagerly Rosamond broke the cake where 
the glint was, and out fell a wedding ring. 

‘ ‘ Congratulations ! ’ ’ cried Adele. 4 ‘ Rosie 
is to be our first bride.” 

When each future had been prophesied 
and the boys and girls had eaten their ice- 
cream and cake, the merry party returned 
to the library, and soon after, as the hour 
was late, they took their departure. 


98 


ADELE DORING 


When they were gone Adele nestled in 
her mother’s arms, as she said softly, 
“Mumsie, this has been the happiest day 
of my life.” 

“That is because you have given others 
so much happiness,” her mother replied. 


CHAPTER NINE 


THE MOTHER GOOSE PLAY-HOUSE 

There’s many a high-chair put away 

For the baby that came, but could not stay. 

There’s many a mother-heart yearning still, 

And arms that a motherless babe might fill. 

There’s many a home that’s sad and drear, 

That a prattling child might bless and cheer. 

It was Sunday, the day after the event- 
ful Saturday which would be so long re- 
membered by the Sunny Seven, as well as 
by the twelve orphans who had been made 
so happy. 

Adele, dressed in pretty white muslin 
and wearing her daisy-wreathed hat, 
tripped down the road toward the orphan 
asylum. She was so deep in thought that 
she did not notice some one standing on 


99 


100 


ADELE DORING 


the corner and evidently waiting for her, 
until a pleasant voice called, “May I go 
with you, my pretty maid?” 

“Oh, Gertrude Willis !” Adele exclaimed. 
“I was thinking of you that very moment 
and wishing that you were going with me, 
and here you are. ’ ’ 

These two friends were especially dear 
to each other. They walked on together, 
and Gertrude said, “Adele, I think it so 
nice of you to go every Sunday afternoon 
to tell stories to the little children at the 
Orphans’ Home. I have often wanted to 
go with you, but usually father has a young 
people ’s meeting at the church and he likes 
me to be there, but to-day he himself sug- 
gested that I go with you. ’ ’ 

“I’m so glad ! ’ ’ Adele replied, giving her 
friend’s arm a loving squeeze. Then they 
talked of Eva Dearman, and decided that 
they would try to be like sisters to the little 
girl who had no home-people of her own 
in all the world. 

“I just can’t imagine what that would 


THE MOTHER GOOSE PLAY-HOUSE 101 


be like,” Gertrude remarked, as she 
thought of the parsonage in which there 
were five merry children, watched over by 
a loving, if dignified, father, and the dear- 
est mother in all the world. 

Mrs. Friend, the matron of the Home, 
greeted them pleasantly, and led them to 
the large, barren room where, on little red 
chairs, twenty small children were seated. 

Their round, eager eyes were watching 
the door, and when they saw Adele, their 
faces brightened, and it seemed as though 
sunshine had suddenly entered the rather 
gloomy room. 

The children, ranging from five years to 
eight, arose, and, standing beside their 
chairs, made funny little bobbing curtsies, 
and they piped out, like so many chirping 
birds, “Good afternoon, Miss Adele.” 

“Good afternoon, little sunbeams,” 
Adele replied. “I have brought a friend 
with me to-day. Miss Gertrude is her 
name.” 

Then the tiny tots bobbed another 


102 


ADELE DORING 


curtsy, and with solemn faces they piped, 
“Good afternoon, Miss Gertrude. 7 ’ 

“The little darlings!” Gertrude ex- 
claimed softly, and tears rushed to her 
eyes. It made her heart ache to think of 
all those babies and not a mother to cuddle 
them, and then she thought of the childless 
homes to which these very little ones might 
bring so much joy and happiness. 

Meanwhile they were seated, and Adele 
was holding her little audience spellbound 
with the simple tales that all children love. 
Tucked away in each one of them was a 
thought that would help the little listener 
to be a better boy or girl during the fol- 
lowing week. 

When the story-hour was over, Adele 
arose, and that was a signal for the tiny 
tots to rise and chirp all together, “Thank 
you, Miss Adele.” Then, to the surprise 
of Gertrude Willis, the twenty, without 
ceremony, rushed at Adele, and that loving 
girl caught as many of the children as her 
arms would hold. 



Adele was holding her little audience spellbound. 

— Page 102. 


■ 






i 



THE MOTHER GOOSE PLAY-HOUSE 103 

On their way out they stopped for a mo- 
ment in the matron’s office. 

“Oh, Mrs. Friend,” Adele exclaimed im- 
pulsively, “how I do wish there was a sun- 
nier spot for the nursery! That north 
room seems so bleak and chilly.” 

i ‘ I have often wished that we had money 
enough to fit out a cheery nursery for our 
little ones,” Mrs. Friend replied with her 
kindly smile, as she walked outdoors with 
the girls. “As it is,” she continued, “we 
have all that we can do to feed and clothe 
the children entrusted to our care. ’ 9 

As they sauntered toward the gardens 
Mrs. Friend said, “Yonder is a little house 
that used to be occupied by a gardener. It 
is quite empty now, and there is a sunny 
front room in it, and I have often wished 
that I had some way of making it into a 
play-house for the very little children.” 

“Oh, Mrs. Friend!” Adele exclaimed 
eagerly. “If we can find the way, may we 
do it ? ” 

“Indeed you may!” Mrs. Friend replied, 


104 


ADELE DORING 


smiling at the girl’s enthusiasm, and then 
she bade them good-bye. 

On Monday morning Adele started to 
school hippety-skipping and singing a 
merry little song to herself. There were 
berry-bushes abloom in the field over which 
she was taking a short cut, and from one 
of these just ahead of her there arose a 
clear, whistling note. 

“A bobolink P’ Adele thought, as she 
stole nearer to catch a glimpse, if she could, 
of the feathered songster, but, to her sur- 
prise, the notes changed to “Bob White P’ 
Adele stood still, puzzled, when from the 
blossoming bush, sweet and clear, arose a 
robin’s morning-song. 

‘ ‘ How strange ! ’ ’ the girl thought. ‘ ‘ It 
must be a birds ’ convention ! ’ ’ She tiptoed 
nearer, when up from behind the bushes 
sprang a bevy of laughing girls, and joy- 
ously they cried, “The top of the morning 
to you, Adele.” 

“But where are the birds?” asked the 
mystified girl. 


THE MOTHER GOOSE PLAY-HOUSE 105 


“Here in my hand,” Peggy Pierce re- 
plied, as she displayed a silver whistle. 
“ It ’s a musical instrument belonging to my 
small brother. I borrowed it because I 
wanted you all to hear the sweet bird 
notes.” 

“Truly, I thought there were birds in 
the bush,” Adele said. Then, turning to 
Gertrude Willis, she asked, “Trudie, have 
you told the girls about our plan ? ’ ’ 

“Of course not, Della,” that maiden re- 
plied. “The president of the Sunnyside 
Club should make all announcements.” 

“Oh, what is it? Do tell us!” Peggy 
Pierce and Betty Burd exclaimed eagerly. 

“It isn’t a party this time,” Adele re- 
plied, smiling at little Betty’s enthusiasm, 
“but it is another opportunity for our 
Sunnyside Club to do a kind deed. ’ ’ And 
then she told them about the gloomy room 
which was the nursery for the very little 
children at the orphanage ; about the toys, 
many of them old and broken; and about 
the cheery cottage in the garden, and how 


106 


ADELE DORING 


Mrs. Friend had said that they might fit 
it up as a play-house if only they could 
find the way. 

“Oh, girls !” Betty Burd cried with shin- 
ing eyes. “We surely can find the way; 
that is, if mumsie is willing. I had the 
darlingest play-house in the South. Papa 
was an architect and he planned it himself. 
There were three rooms in it, and one of 
them was the home of Mother Goose. I 
wasn ’t very old then, but I shall never for- 
get the joy in my heart when I first beheld 
that room. It was like stepping into a 
Mother Goose picture-book and being able 
to skip about in it. Then, when papa died 
and we came North to keep house for Uncle 
George, I just couldn’t bear to part with 
those Mother Goose things, so mumsie 
packed them in a big box and brought them 
along, and ever since they have been up 
in the attic. 

“Of course I am too old to play with 
those things now, but wouldn’t I just love 
to fit up a play-house with them for those 


THE MOTHER GOOSE PLAY-HOUSE 107 


poor little orphans! We’ll do it, too, if 
mnmsie is willing.” 

Betty’s mother gladly gave her consent, 
and the following Saturday found the 
Sunny Seven in the orphanage garden. 
The little cottage had been thoroughly 
cleaned, much to the delight of Rosamond 
Wright, who did not care to attend another 
scrubbing-party. 

The two orphans, Eva Dearman and 
Amanda Brown, at Adele’s invitation, 
came out to help, and how happy they were 
to be included! 

“I do wish that the Mother Goose box 
would come, so that we might begin to 
unpack it,” Betty Burd declared impa- 
tiently. 

4 4 Bob said that he would bring it over 
just as soon as his morning work was 
done,” Bertha explained. 

4 4 Here he comes now, and Jack Doring 
is with him!” Doris Drexel called. The 
girls crowded to the sunny window and 
looked out at the driveway; then Adele 


108 


ADELE DORING 


threw open the door as Bob leaped to the 
ground. Pretending to be a cartman, the 
boy exclaimed in a rather poor imitation 
of Irish brogue, 4 4 Good day to yez. And 
where will yez be afther havin’ the baggage 
put?” 

“Oh, Bob !” Betty Burd cried. “Weren’t 
you an angel to bring it over for us !” 

“Of course he’s an angel, and so am I, 
too, for that matter!” Bertha exclaimed. 

“Oh, I quite forgot that 1 Angel’ is his 
name,” Betty gayly replied. “But do 
please bring the box right in and set it in 
the middle of the floor.” 

When this was done, she laughingly in- 
quired, “And now, Mr. Cartman, what 
might your charges be?” 

“Hum-m!” said the mischievous Bob. 
“Since it’s fer ladies, we’ll make the 
charges light. I think one box of fudge 
would do nicely. What do you say, Jack ? ’ ’ 

These boys well knew that wherever the 
girls were gathered together, there also 
was a batch of fudge. 


THE MOTHER GOOSE PLAY-HOUSE 109 


“But we want some for ourselves/ ’ 
Doris protested. “I think two squares for 
each of you would be good pay for deliv- 
ering the box. ” Then she added brightly, 
“Girls ! I have a brilliant idea ! We might 
give the boys four squares each if they will 
open the box and help us unpack; but if 
they refuse, they shall have nothing at all.” 

“Of course we will open it for you,” 
Jack Doring replied amiably, as he took a 
hammer out of his coat-pocket. “Here, 
Bob,” he added, “proceed to show the 
ladies what an excellent box-opener you 
are. ’ ’ 

“Not a bit of it,” Bob replied. “Wouldn’t 
deprive you, old chap, of all that honor for 
worlds.” So indolent Jack, having the 
hammer, had to pry off the boards, and 
then merrily the unpacking began. There 
were four large squares of cotton cloth on 
which were colored prints of Mother Goose 
pictures. 

“Boys,” Betty implored, “please find a 
step-ladder and tack these up for us, and 


110 


ADELE BORING 


then we shall be through in short order. ” 

“I should call it a large order,” Bob 

Angel declared, but nevertheless he went 

out and soon returned with the needed step- 

ladder. Then from a high seat on the top 

of it he announced, ‘ 4 Ladies, be it known 

that my charges for tacking are ten fudge 

squares with chopped walnuts in them. ’ 9 

“I’ll tell vou what!” Adele exclaimed. 
%/ 

“If you boys will help us to-day, we girls 
will soon give a fudge party and you shall 
have just all the candy that you can eat. ’ ’ 
“Three cheers for Adele!” Bob ex- 
claimed. And then so ably did the boys 
lend their assistance that the work of un- 
packing and decorating was soon com- 
pleted, and with laughter and joking they 
remounted the wagon and rode away. 

An hour later the twentv kiddies were 

«/ 

admitted to their new play-house. Mrs. 
Friend was with them, and she was as 
pleased as they were with the Mother Goose 
room. There were cloth dolls dressed to 
represent the different characters, and 


THE MOTHER GOOSE PLAY-HOUSE 111 


woolly Mother Goose animals, and there 
were bright picture-books which babies 
could look at to their heart’s content and 
the pages wouldn’t tear. 

Betty Burd, with her arm about Adele’s 
waist, stood looking on, and she was hoping 
that somehow her dear daddy might know 
of the wonderful happiness that his gift to 
her was giving to these baby orphans. 

When the children were willing to sit 
down and be quiet, Adele told them the 
stories that went with the pictures on the 
walls. Then, when it was all over and the 
Sunny Seven were about to depart, the 
little ones scrambled to their feet and, mak- 
ing their funny little bobbing curtsies, 
piped out, ‘ ‘ Thank you, Miss Betty.” This 
was so unexpected that tears rushed to 
Betty’s eyes and her voice trembled as she 
said, “You’re welcome, little darlings.” 

On their way home Rosamond exclaimed, 
“And now, girls, let us plan that fudge 
party which we promised to give for the 
boys ! ’ ’ 


112 


ADELE DORING 


“Not yet, Rosie/ ’ Adele replied. “Final 
examinations are drawing near, and I think 
we would better plan to just study and 
study, but as soon as vacation arrives, 
we’ll have the nicest fudge party that ever 
was or could be.” 

And with that promise Rosamond had to 
be content. 


CHAPTER TEN 


PREPARING FOR EXAMINATIONS 

On the first Saturday in June the Sunny 
Seven were to meet at the Secret Sanctum, 
to begin a review of the term’s lessons, for 
the final examinations were only three 
weeks away. 

Six of the girls were already there at the 
appointed hour, but, strange to relate, the 
one who was usually first, this day was last. 

“Perhaps Betty isn’t coming,” Adele 
said. “It is possible that she is not going 
to take the examinations. You know she 
is a year younger than we are, and though 
she had been in Seven B in the South, the 
lessons are different, and when she came 
North last term, they put her in our grade 
on trial, and I think that she has found it 
very hard to keep up.” 


114 


ADELE DORING 


“You are right, Adele,” Gertrude re- 
plied. “Mrs. Burd told me that she would 
far rather have Betty remain in this grade 
another year, hut her Uncle George is eager 
for her to advance. ” 

4 ‘ Here comes Betty on a skip and a run ! ’ ’ 
Rosamond exclaimed as she looked out of 
the cabin-door, and in another moment the 
little girl about whom they had been talk- 
ing, danced in, and, sinking down on the 
couch, fanned her flushed face with her 
broad-brimmed hat. 

‘ ‘ Girls ! ’ ’ she exclaimed as soon as she 
could get her breath. “I had decided to 
give up taking the examinations, — mother 
wanted me to, — when something very re- 
markable happened, and I am so excited 
about it, I just don’t know what to do.” 

“Betty! Betty!” laughed Adele. “We 
can’t make head or tail out of what you 
are saying. Won’t you begin at the begin- 
ning of your story ? ’ ’ 

“All right,” Betty replied, as she settled 
down among the sofa-pillows. “You know 


PREPARING FOR EXAMINATIONS 115 


my Uncle George is a very smart young 
man, ’ ’ 

‘ i He isn ’t very young, is he V ’ Rosamond 
inquired. 

“Why, mother says that he is,” Betty 
replied vaguely. “Of course he isn’t a 
boy, but every one says that he is very 
young to be an editor and hold such a 
responsible position on a big city news- 
paper.” 

“I’ve heard my Giant Daddy say that 
your Uncle George writes very cleverly,” 
Adele said kindly. 

Betty gave her a grateful glance as she 
continued, “Well, I guess he must write 
pretty well, for he’s just sold his first story 
for one hundred dollars. The check came 
on this morning’s mail, and Uncle George 
opened the letter while we were at break- 
fast. When he saw the check, he gave a 
whoop just like a boy, and he exclaimed, 

‘ Betsy Bobbets,’ — that’s his pet name for 
me, — 4 if there ’s anything in this shining 
universe that you want, if a hundred dot- 


116 


ADELE DORING 


lars will buy it, you shall have it.’ Of 
course I said that I wanted a jet-black 
pony, just like Firefly, and Uncle George 
jokingly replied: ‘ Betsy, we’ll make a bar- 
gain. If you will pass perfect in spelling 
and grammar, the pony shall be yours!’ 
Mother said, ‘Oh, George, I do not wish 
Betty even to try the examinations.’ But 
he exclaimed, ‘Puppy-dogs and fiddle- 
sticks ! My dear madam, this daughter of 
yours is possessed of as fine a quality of 
gray matter as one could wish, but she is 
sadly lacking in concentration and perse- 
verance.’ ” 

“How could you remember all that!” 
Rosamond exclaimed. 

“I guess because I w T as so interested and 
was listening hard, and, besides, I knew 
that Uncle George was right. I had not 
expected to be promoted this year, and so 
I had not really tried to learn the term’s 
work. ’ ’ 

“I believe that you could do it,” Adele 
remarked. “We should be sorry to be pro- 


PREPARING FOR EXAMINATIONS 117 


moted and leave our little one behind. 
Now onr plan is to review the entire term’s 
work, and if we go over and over it with 
Betty, we shall also be impressing the les- 
sons more firmly on onr own minds.” 

4 ‘Then you think that I could do it?” 
Betty asked eagerly. 

“Of course you can,” Adele replied con- 
fidently, as she opened a speller. “You all 
sit in a row and we will play school, the 
way we used to do, and we’ll take turns 
being the teacher. Now, Betty, don’t you 
mind if you make mistakes, but just listen 
and listen, and you will be surprised how 
much you will learn. ’ ’ 

Then followed a busy hour, and a robin, 
alighting for a moment on the door-sill, 
wondered why girls could stay within on 
such a perfect June day. But what could 
a robin know of examinations only three 
weeks away? 

When at last the girls were sauntering 
across the meadows on their homeward 
way, Betty exclaimed joyously, “Girls, 


118 


ADELE DORING 


I’ve learned more to-day than in a whole 
month at school.” 

“That’s because you put your mind on 
it, little one,” Gertrude replied. “I have 
always felt that you could do much better 
if you really wanted to. ” 

Suddenly Betty laughed gleefully. 
“Won’t Miss Donovan be surprised,” she 
chuckled, “if to-morrow in class I should 
happen to spell a word correctly? She 
says that I can think up more wrong ways 
to spell a word than any one she ever met.” 

As Betty had prophesied, Miss Donovan 
was indeed surprised to hear a constantly 
improved recitation from that young lady, 
but little did she dream of the hours and 
hours that were spent by that once heedless 
girl in poring over spellers and gram- 
mars. 

One morning when the girls met under 
the elm tree, Doris Drexel announced, 
“Only ten more days before the final ex- 
aminations.” 

“Oh-h!” moaned Betty Burd dolefully. 


PREPARING FOR EXAMINATIONS 119 


4 4 If yon were saying only ten days more 
before Betty Burd’s funeral, I wouldn’t 
feel a bit more dismal about it ! ” 

4 4 Cheer up, little one,” Adele said 
brightly. 4 4 You are getting on famously. 
Can you spell ‘believe’ to-day?” 

44 B-e-l-i-e-v-e,” Betty replied with a faint 
attempt at a smile. 44 I do believe,” she 
added with conviction , 4 4 that whoever made 
up the English language tried to tangle the 
letters in it just as much as possible.” 

4 4 Those old sages didn’t know about your 
pony, Betsy, or they never would have done 
it,” Bertha Angel gayly remarked, and 
then the last bell called them to their 
classes. 

This unusual application to her studies 
at last began to tell on Betty, and as the 
fatal day drew near she visibly drooped. 

4 4 George!” Mrs. Burd exclaimed one 
morning, when Betty, after having sat list- 
lessly at the table, finally departed for 
school without having touched her break- 
fast. 4 4 If you do not forbid Betty’s study- 


120 


ADELE DORING 


in g so hard, I shall do so myself. She’s 
all I have left in the world, now that her 
daddy is gone, and I don ’t care if she never, 
never learns to spell. If yon wanted to 
give her a pony, why didn’t you do so with- 
out making her work so hard for it?” 

George Wainwright had been unusually 
busy in his city office of late, and was sel- 
dom at the table when Betty was there, and 
as for the examinations, he had quite for- 
gotten about them. But that night he was 
home for dinner, and he noticed how pale 
was the little girl whom he so dearly loved, 
and when she refused to eat chocolate pud- 
ding and whipped cream, her very favorite 
dessert, then, indeed, did his conscience 
smite him, and he decided to take the child 
out of school at once and get the pony, that 
she might ride and bring the roses back to 
her cheeks. And so it was that he asked 
her to walk with him in the garden while 
he had his after-dinner smoke. 

This was always a treat to Betty, and 
she went with him gladly. After they had 


PREPARING FOR EXAMINATIONS 121 


walked up and down the gravelly paths a 
few times, Uncle George asked suddenly, 
“And how’s the spelling getting on, Betsy 
Bobbets?” 

“Well,” said Betty with a sigh, “I’ve 
got the ‘i-e’ right at last, and if they will 
examine me on that I am sure to be perfect ; 
that is, I shall be if it ’s a written examina- 
tion. But, oh, Uncle George, if the princi- 
pal, Mr. Dickerson, comes in and gives us 
an oral one, I won’t be able to spell one 
single word. I get so scared when he asks 
me a question; something clutches at my 
throat, and everything turns black before 
me, and even the words that I know I know, 
I just don ’t know at all. ’ ’ 

Uncle George laughed at the twisted sen- 
tence, and then he drew the little girl down 
on a bench beside him. 

“What is it that clutches at your throat, 
little one ! ” he asked. 

Betty looked surprised as she replied, 
“Why, nothing, really, I suppose!” 

“That’s just it,” Uncle George said 


122 


ADELE DORING 


earnestly. “People call it fear, but it is 
nothing. What is there to be afraid of? 
Since you know how to spell the word, all 
that you have to do is to spell it. And 
even if you misspell it, no harm is done. 
The word will always remain, and you can 
learn it at another time. Courage is the 
quality that I want my Betsy Bobbets to 
cultivate, — courage and fearlessness.” 

“Oh, Uncle George!” Betty exclaimed, 
more like her bright self. “I am so glad 
that you have talked to me this way. I feel 
ever so much braver. I guess that all I am 
really afraid of is that I shall lose the 
pony. ’ ’ 

How Uncle George wanted to tell her 
that she should have the pony, come what 
might, but he decided that perhaps it would 
be better for her character-development if 
he left things as they were. 

A few moments later Betty danced into 
the dining-room. Her mother, who was 
putting away the silver, glanced up anx- 
iously. She hoped that her brother George 


PREPARING FOR EXAMINATIONS 123 


had told Betty that she need not take the 
examinations, and she was convinced that 
this was so when Betty exclaimed gayly, 
“Oh, Mumsie, where’s my chocolate pud- 
ding and whipped cream? I’m so hungry 
for it !” 

“It’s in the china-closet, dear. I thought 
that you might want it later,” the mother 
replied. And then, while Betty was eat- 
ing the pudding with her old appreciation, 
Mrs. Burd asked, “Are you glad that you 
aren ’t going to take the examinations, 
Betty?” 

“But I am going to take them, mumsie 
dear, and you will be so proud of me when 
I bring home a card marked ‘ perfect’ in 
grammar and spelling.” 

Mrs. Burd was indeed puzzled, but she 
said no more just then. The girls, too, 
noticed the change in Betty, and then one 
morning, under the elm-tree, Peggy Pierce 
chanted dolefully, “And this is the day of 
the final examinations. They mean to find 
out how little I know.” 


124 


ADELE DORING 


“Oh-h!” moaned Rosamond. “I’m 
scared stiff.” 

Then Betty surprised them all by asking : 
“What’s scaring you, Rosie? You know 
your lessons, don’t you?” 

“Indeed I do! I know every word in 
every book from cover to cover,” Rosie 
responded. “And so do we all, for that 
matter, for we’ve been over them together 
at least twenty times.” 

“Well,” Betty remarked, “my Uncle 
George told me that fear is really nothing 
at all but just our imaginations. I know 
that there is nothing to be afraid of, and 
I’m not going to be afraid of it.” And 
before the girls could recover from their 
astonishment, the last bell rang and they 
went to their class-room. 

Miss Donovan smiled encouragingly at 
them as they entered, and then the books 
were taken up and the examination-papers 
passed. 

Some of the grammar questions were 
rather hard, and took a clear brain to think 


PREPARING FOR EXAMINATIONS 125 


out. Adele glanced anxiously at Betty, 
but when that little girl smiled back so 
reassuringly, she gave her no further 
thought. 

For an hour and a half the girls wrote 
and wrote, and then the papers were taken 
up and they were allowed fifteen minutes 
for recreation. 

“Now, ” said Rosamond, “what I would 
like to know is, are we to have a written 
examination or is Mr. Dickerson coming in 
to give us an oral test?” 

“Mr. Dickerson is the father of five 
children,” said Gertrude, “so we need not 
be in the least afraid of him. He must 
know that children are not perfect.” 

Once more in their seats in the class- 
room, the girls watched the door eagerly. 
Would he come or would he not? Sud- 
denly the door opened a crack and then 
closed again ; but a second later it reopened 
and Bob Angel entered, bearing a message 
for Miss Donovan. He smiled broadly at 
the girls as he went out. He felt sure that 


126 


ADELE DORING 


the message he had brought would be a 
welcome one. 

Miss Donovan smiled, too, as she an- 
nounced, “Mr. Dickerson has been called 
away, and so we will have a written exam- 
ination. ’ ’ 

When at last the Sunny Seven were out 
under the elm-tree, Rosamond dropped 
down on the bench, exclaiming, “Well, 
girls, I don’t know how you all feel, but I 
am limp.” 

Betty’s eyes were shining. “Wasn’t 
Miss Donovan a dear to give us so many 
i-e words!” she exclaimed joyously. “I 
almost think that I might as well name the 
pony. ’ ’ 

The next day Miss Donovan announced 
the result of the examinations, and she 
said: “First of all, I want to congratulate 
Betty Burd. Her grammar and spelling 
were perfect.” Then she added kindly, 
“Betty is to be excused from the test in 
arithmetic, because she is to be tutored in 
that subject during the summer, and then 


PREPARING FOR EXAMINATIONS 127 


she will be promoted with the rest of the 
class in the fall.” 

Such rejoicing as there was when the 
Sunny Seven were again under the elm- 
tree. Betty wanted the other girls to go 
home with her, and so across the meadows 
they joyously took their way. Into the 
house Betty danced, shouting, “Mumsie! 
Mumsie ! I passed perfect in grammar and 
spelling . ’ 9 

“It isn’t possible!” exclaimed her de- 
lighted and astonished mother, as she hur- 
ried from the library, embroidery in hand. 
But the card which Betty triumphantly 
produced verified this startling statement. 

“Your Uncle George came home early 
this afternoon,” Mrs. Burd said. “He is 
in the study.” 

But Mrs. Burd was wrong, for Uncle 
George, having heard the joyous commo- 
tion, knew that it could have but one mean- 
ing and was already in the hall. 

“Just good enough to be true, Betsy 
Bobbets,” he exclaimed when he had heard 


128 


ADELE DORING 


the glorious news. Then Betty, remem- 
bering her manners, introduced the six 
girls, and Rosamond mentally decided that 
Uncle George was ever so good-looking and 
not so awfully old either. 

“And now,” said that young man gayly, 
“let’s visit the barn.” 

“Oh! Oh!” cried the delighted Betty, 
“Is that darling pony here this very 
minute 1 9 9 

The pony was indeed there, and the girls 
all gave exclamations of admiration when 
they beheld him, for even Firefly was not 
more handsome. 

Then each of the seven rode on his back 
around the circular drive, and Rosamond 
declared that a rocking-chair could not be 
more comfortable. 

‘ i I ought to name him Spelling or Gram- 
mar, I suppose,” Betty declared. “But 
since he has a white spot on his forehead, 
I ’m going to call him Star . 9 9 

Then, when Uncle George had led the 
pony back to his stall, Mrs. Burd called the 


PREPARING FOR EXAMINATIONS 129 


girls to the wide side-porch, which was so 
attractive and cosy with deep wicker 
chairs, comfortable cushions, and here and 
there big drooping ferns on wicker ped- 
estals. When they were seated, M^elissy, 
the colored maid, brought out cold lemon- 
ade and little nut-cookies. 

“Well,” said Betty with a happy sigh, 
4 ‘ I really do not deserve these high marks, 
for if Uncle George had not bribed me, and 
if you girls hadn’t encouraged and helped 
me, I probably would still be spelling 
‘believe’ with an e-i.” 

“Next year,” Gertrude said wisely, “we 
will learn our lessons each day as we go 
along, and then we shall not have to over- 
study just before the examinations.” 

“And now,” Rosamond declared, “since 
vacation is here, we must plan to give that 
fudge party which we promised the boys.” 


CHAPTER ELEVEN 


VACATION DAYS 

“ Vacation days have come again, 

Joyous, glad, and free. 

We’ll brim them full of happiness 
As ever days could be.” 

Adele sang this little song as she and the 
Sunny Six skipped across the meadows on 
that last day after school. Then, parting 
with her friends at the cross-roads, she 
went on her homeward way, walking more 
demurely, since she was now in the village, 
but her thoughts were dancing as joyously 
as before. 

“I’m so happy, so happy!” she said to 
herself. “I wish I might share it with 
some one who hasn’t as much as I have.” 

And just as she turned in at the lilac 
gate, she thought of the some one. Into 


130 


VACATION DAYS 


131 


the house she skipped, and, pausing in the 
lower hall, she called eagerly, “Mumsie 
mine, where are you?” 

“ Climb the golden stairs, daughter,” a 
sweet voice replied. And up the softly- 
carpeted stairway Adele tripped, and, 
dancing into her mother’s sunny sewing- 
room, she threw her arms about the pretty 
little woman who was busily making but- 
tonholes. Then, sinking down on a near-by 
stool, she exclaimed, 4 ‘ Adorable Mother, 
have I been a real good girl this year?” 

“Indeed you have,” Mrs. Doring replied 
brightly. And then she laughingly added, 
“That reminds me of when you were a 
little girl, Pet, for you always asked that 
when you were about to request a favor.” 

“Did I?” Adele inquired with twinkling 
eyes, as she took off her broad-brimmed, 
daisy-wreathed hat and fanned her flushed 
face. Then, laying her head against her 
mother’s knee, she added, “Mumsie, dar- 
ling, I haven’t changed very much, I guess, 
for I want to ask a great, big, and perfectly 


132 


ADELE DORING 


beautiful favor of you. And since I have 
been so good, don’t you think that you 
might say yes?” 

“Oho, Mistress Adele,” laughed her 
mother, “I cannot grant a favor unless I 
know what it is. ” 

“It’s something just ever so nice,” 
Adele said, “and it won’t be a mite of 
trouble to you. I want to invite that or- 
phan girl, Eva Dearman, over to spend 
Saturday and Sunday. She’s just a dear, 
mumsie, and her home was as nice as ours 
before her father lost his money and died, 
and then, soon after that, her mother was 
taken. Oh, mumsie, when I think how it 
might have been me, homeless and all 
alone, I’m so thankful, and yet that makes 
me all the sorrier for Eva, and I would so 
like to share my home with her just for two 
days. ’ ’ 

There were tears in Mrs. Doring’s eyes 
as she held Adele close. Then she said: 
4 ‘ Do go and get Eva this very moment. I 
would like to meet your friend.” 


VACATION DAYS 


133 


“Oh, Adorable Mother !” Adele ex- 
claimed as she sprang up. “I fly to do 
your bidding. I’m sure that Mrs. Friend 
will be willing to let her come, and won’t 
Eva be happy, though ! ’ ’ 

Adele tossed her school-books into her 
room as she hurried past, and then down 
the stairs she flew. Out to the barn she 
skipped, and soon Firefly was hitched to 
the little red cart. Adele waved to her 
mother as she drove out of the lilac gate. 
She was so happy that, as soon as the vil- 
lage was passed, she just had to sing. 

In the orphanage Eva Dearman was 
patiently helping Amanda Brown with her 
mending, little dreaming of the joy that 
was soon to be hers. 

Adele drew rein in front of the rambling 
brick building, and telling Firefly that he 
should have a lump of sugar if he would 
stand just ever so still until she came back, 
into the Home she went. 

Mrs. Friend’s cheery voice bade her 
enter the office, and how the kind matron 


134 


ADELE DORING 


beamed when she saw Adele ’s shining face. 

“Why, lassie,’ ’ she exclaimed, “you look 
as though the nicest thing imaginable was 
just about to happen.” 

“And so it is,” Adele replied, “if you 
will be a kind fairy and grant my wish. ’ ’ 

“It is granted,” exclaimed Mrs. Friend. 
“Now tell me what it is.” 

“I want to borrow one of your children 
for over Sunday. Mother would have writ- 
ten a note, but she was too busy making 
buttonholes for the Lend-a-Hands,” Adele 
explained. 

“A note is not at all necessary,” Mrs. 
Friend replied. “Which of my children 
do you wish to borrow? I’m like the old 
woman who lived in the shoe : I have so 
many children, I don ’t know what to do. ’ ’ 

“Can’t you guess which one I want to 
borrow?” Adele asked. And the matron 
smilingly replied, “Indeed I can, and you 
will find Eva in the sewing-room, I be- 
lieve. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Thank you, Mrs. Friend ! ’ ’ the girl ex- 


VACATION DAYS 


135 


claimed gratefully, and then she tripped 
down the hall and rapped on a door. Eva 
herself opened it, and w T ith a little cry of 
joy she stepped out and exclaimed, “Oh, 
Adele, I’ve just been pining to see you.” 

“Eva,” Adele said mysteriously, “you 
have an invitation. Would you like to 
accept it?” 

Eva caught her friend’s hands, and with 
shining eyes she replied, “Would I? Why, 
Adele, that’s a needless question! Indeed 
I would ! Is it for all of the girls, or is it 
just for me?” 

“Just for you this time,” Adele replied, 
and then she told her what the invitation 
was. 

Tears rushed to Eva’s eyes, but through 
them a radiant smile was shining as she 
joyously exclaimed, “Am I really and 
truly to live in your home for^two whole 
days ? ’ ’ 

Adele had not thought that it would mean 
so much to the little orphan. 

Half an hour later, Eva, dressed in her 


136 


ADELE DORING 


Sunday best and looking radiantly happy, 
sat beside Adele in the little red cart, and 
Firefly, having had his lump of sugar, was 
trotting along in his briskest fashion. 

“Oh, Adele,” Eva exclaimed joyfully, 
“I was having such a hard time to see the 
sunny side of life this morning, but now 
just everything sings and glows.” 

And Adele, having brought so much joy 
to another, was radiantly happy herself. 

Soon they were turning in at the drive- 
way, and there was Adorable Mother wait- 
ing on the porch to greet them. Her heart 
had been full of tenderness for this orphan 
even before she had seen her, but when she 
beheld the slender, graceful girl with soft 
golden-brown hair, which, though braided, 
would escape in ringlets, and the sweet blue 
eyes which looked up at her so yearningly, 
those mother-arms reached out and held 
Eva in close embrace. 

“Mumsie, dear,” laughed the delighted 
Adele, “is it manners to hug a young lady 
before you’ve been introduced?” 


VACATION DAYS 


137 


“Yes, and kiss her, too,” Mrs. Doring 
replied, as she kissed Eva’s flushed cheeks, 
and then she added kindly, “Adele’s friend 
is very welcome to our home.” 

“Thank you, Mrs. Doring,” Eva said, 
smiling through the tears that would 
come. 

“There now,” Mrs. Doring said briskly, 
“you two girls skip up-stairs and have a 
nice visit before supper.” 

So up the broad and softly-carpeted 
stairway they went, hand in hand. Eva 
gave an exclamation of delight when they 
entered Adele’s room. 

“It’s just like a fairy bower, and I’m so 
glad that I know the fairy who lives in it.” 

It was indeed a pretty room. The wall- 
paper was the color of pale sunshine, and 
looped about on it, here and there, were 
wreaths of wild roses. The window-seat 
coverings, the curtains, the downy sofa- 
pillows, all carried out the wild-rose design. 
There were bird ’s-eye-maple furniture, low 
shelves overflowing with good books, a little 


138 


ADELE DORING 


brass bed, its pale yellow spread bordered 
with wild roses, and the big drooping fern 
in the sunny bay-window. Surely there 
never was a cheerier room, nor one better 
suited to the maiden who dwelt therein. 

“Pm glad that you like it,” Adele ex- 
claimed, “and some day I want a picture 
of you to put in this long frame with my 
very best friends, the Sunny Six.” 

“Do you really?” Eva asked happily. 
“Oh, Adele, you are so dear and so good to 
me that it isn’t a bit hard to see the sunny 
side when you are around. Now if it’s 
manners, I’m going to poke about and 
examine your room, just as if I were visit- 
ing a museum.” 

“Of course it’s manners,” laughed 
Adele. “I’m very proud of my ornaments. 
Father’s younger brother is a great trav- 
eler, and he has brought me things from all 
parts of the world. See this blue bowl with 
the dragon wound about it? A little girl 
in Japan gave it to Uncle Dixon for me. 
He said that her name was Wistaria, and 


VACATION DAYS 


139 


that she looked as though she had just 
stepped off of a Japanese fan.” 

“Wouldn’t you love to see her!” Eva 
exclaimed. “I’m so eager to visit Japan 
some day when the cherry-trees are in 
blossom, and sit on the floor and drink tea 
in the funny way that they do.” 

So with happy chatter the two girls wan- 
dered about the room, and Adele told the 
story of each ornament. Then drawing 
Eva to the long mirror, she laughingly ex- 
claimed, “And now I will show you the 
life-sized portrait of two beautiful girls.” 
Eva, looking in the mirror, saw two happy 
faces smiling out at them. 

4 4 Look closely, ’ ’ Adele was saying. 4 4 See 
how true to life the artist has made them. 
He has even put in the freckles.” Sud- 
denly a boy’s voice exclaimed from the 
doorway, 4 4 Vanity! Vanity! Thy name is 
Girl ! ’ ’ 

4 4 Oh, Jack Doring!” Adele cried, whirl- 
ing about. 4 4 It isn’t any such thing. You 
were in front of your mirror for ages this 


140 


ADELE DORING 


morning, trying on seven different neck- 
ties. But, oil, I forgot. Eva, you haven’t 
met my brother Jack, have you? He isn’t 
famous for anything as yet, unless it is for 
dodging work. ’ ’ 

4 ‘How do you do, Miss Eva?” Jack said 
solemnly, as he made a low bow. “Don’t 
believe a word that Sis says. I have 
acquired fame this very day, of which my 
small sister knows nothing. I have been 
appointed Pirate the Terrible, which means 
that I am now chief of the band of pirates 
to which I belong; and, by the way, Sis, 
they are all coming over here this evening 
to get that fudge which you promised to 
make for us when we delivered the box.” 

“Honestly, Jack Doring?” Adele asked. 
“Why, I don’t believe that there’s a square 
of chocolate in the whole house.” 

“Well, there will be,” Jack replied. 
“You see to inviting the girls and I’ll get 
the chocolate and the walnuts. Mother 
said that we might have the kitchen to- 
night. ’ ’ 


VACATION DAYS 


141 


When Jack had gone his way, Adele 
hugged her friend as she exclaimed, “It 
will be a party for you, Eva, and I want you 
to have just the nicest time . 9 9 Then, as the 
supper-hell was ringing, they made ready 
and went down the stairs, arm in arm. 


CHAPTER TWELVE 

THE FUDGE PARTY 

As Adele and Eva entered the big pleas- 
ant library, which was living-room for the 
Dorings, a tall man rose from a deep, com- 
fortable chair, and, laying aside the even- 
ing paper, turned to greet them. 

‘ 4 This is my Giant Father !” Adele ex- 
claimed. “Eva, I am introducing you to 
the nicest man in the whole world. ’ ’ 

Giant Father shook hands with Eva, and 
was just about to say some kindly word of 
welcome when the side-door banged, and 
Jack, cap in hand, appeared before them. 
“Sis,” he cried, “cast your eye upon this 
package ! Does it look like chocolate 
enough? And here are the nuts. It took 
all the money I have earned this month to 
make these purchases.” 


142 


THE FUDGE PARTY 


143 


“Earned!” exclaimed Adele. “Doing 
what ? ’ ’ 

“Children! Children!” Mrs. Doring 
laughingly admonished from the doorway. 
And then she added, “Come now, since 
Jack has returned we will have our 
supper.” 

When they were seated at the table, 
Adele gayly exclaimed, “Yes, Jackie, since 
we have a guest, let us have peace to- 
night. ’ ’ 

“ I ’ll gladly have a ‘ piece 9 of yonder choc- 
olate mountain,” Jack said, as he waved his 
hand toward a large cake such as no one 
could make, so he thought, except their own 
cook, Kate. And Kate, serving the supper, 
beamed happily on the brown head of the 
boy who had been the darling of her heart 
ever since he had been placed in her arms 
fourteen years before. It was indeed her 
chief happiness to make or bake something 
for her boy, Jack. 

The merry supper in such a happy home 
brought tender memories rushing to the 


144 


ADELE DORING 


heart of the orphan girl, but bravely she 
thought, “I must appreciate what I have 
and stop grieving for what I cannot have.” 

When the supper was over Adele drew 
Eva into a little room near the library. 
“This is Giant Daddy ’s den,” she said. 
“Come in and close the door. I want to 
telephone to the Sunny Six and invite them 
to the fudge party.” 

Soon the line was busy, for Adele was 
holding merry conversations with first one 
of her friends and then another. Yes, in- 
deed, Betty Burd could come, and wouldn’t 
it be jolly fun! 

“What shall I bring?” Peggy Pierce 
asked. “Just your own sweet self,” Adele 
replied. Bob, Jack’s pal, had told Bertha 
Angel about the party, and she said that 
she and Gertrude Willis would come to- 
gether. Doris Drexel lived next door to 
Adele, so all that she had to do was to 
crawl through the hole in the hedge. 

Rosamond Wright said that she had to 
take a music-lesson first. Oh, yes, she 


THE FUDGE PARTY 


145 


would come to the party after that. Why, 
she wouldn’t miss it for worlds, but she 
might be late. 

“They can all come,” Adele announced, 
as she arose from the desk on which the 
’phone stood, and then, taking Eva by the 
hand, she dragged her gayly toward the 
kitchen. 

“We’ll help Kate do the supper work,” 
she announced , 4 ‘ and then we can be getting 
the place ready for the party.” 

With so many helping hands, the room 
was soon in apple-pie order. Adele ex- 
plained to Eva about the club to which her 
brother belonged. “It’s the luckiest 
thing,” she declared. “There are just 
seven girls in our club and there are seven 
boys in Jack’s, so when we give parties we 
have an even number. Not that we pair 
off. I don’t believe that any of the boys 
like one girl more than another. They are 
just our brothers, you see. Of course, 
being boys, they are not content to have a 
nice quiet club like ours. Last year they 


146 


ADELE DORING 


had been reading Cooper, so they called 
themselves ‘The Mohicans/ and such 
blood-curdling yells as they could give. 
Sometimes they would dress up like In- 
dians and paint their faces and swoop 
down upon us girls when we were in the 
woods, and, truly, they would frighten us, 
even though we knew perfectly well who 
they were. This year they are reading 
Stevenson, and so their club is The Jolly 
Pirates. They have elected Jack as their 
chief, and they call him Pirate the Ter- 
rible. ’ ’ 

Just then the front-door bell rang and 
Adele skipped away, soon to return with 
five girls, all of whom welcomed Eva gladly, 
and then laughingly they made deep curt- 
sies to J ack, who had just appeared. That 
good-looking boy, in return, bowed in most 
courtly fashion. 

A few moments later another bell rang, 
and Adele, opening the side-door, peered 
out into the gathering darkness. 

On the porch stood six boys. The head 


THE FUDGE PARTY 


147 


of each was covered with a black, shroud- 
like cloth, and in a melancholy tone they 
chanted : 

“ Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest. 

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.” 

‘ ‘ Oh, boys ! ’ ’ Adele exclaimed. ‘ 1 Do take 
off those dreadful black things ! You give 
me the shivers, even though I do know who 
you are.” 

But the six black figures stood motion- 
less, and then one asked, in a deep, gruff 
voice, “Is this the home of Pirate the Ter- 
rible 1 ’ ’ 

“Yes, it is,” laughed Adele, “but he 
isn’t so very terrible just now, for he has 
on a calico apron and he’s cracking nuts 
for the fudge.” 

Then, to the surprise of the onlookers, 
the boys jumped up into the air, and, click- 
ing their heels together, they shouted in 
chorus, “Yo-ho! Jolly Pirates, seize the 
fudge!” Then, snatching off their black 
headgear, six laughing boyish faces were 


148 


ADELE DORING 


revealed, and Bob Angel cried, “ In, my 
good men, and enjoy the revelry. Rich 
entertainment awaits you. ’ ’ 

4 ‘You ought to say, ‘In, my bad men,’ I 
should think, if you are playing pirates,” 
Adele suggested. Then she added, “Eva, 
permit me to introduce to you my brother ’s 
boon companions, the Jolly Pirates. I 
won’t tell you their names just at first; it 
would be too confusing. I’ll let you learn 
them gradually. Now, boys, you may sit 
over here -with Jack and crack nuts. And 
Peggy, you’d better stay near them and 
see that they put the nuts into the bowl. ’ ’ 
“Oh, let’s trust to their honor,” Peggy 
gayly replied. Meanwhile Doris Drexel 
was grating the chocolate, and soon the 
candy-making was well under way. 

“It’s strange that Rosie doesn’t arrive,” 
Adele said at last. “It’s quite dark now, 
and she may be afraid to come alone. Per- 
haps — ” But before Adele could say an- 
other word, some one stumbled up on the 
side steps, the kitchen door burst open, and 


THE FUDGE PARTY 


149 


there stood Rosamond with wide, startled 
eyes, and face as white as a sheet. 

‘ 1 Rosie ! ’ ’ Adele cried in alarm. ‘ ‘ What 
is the matter V 9 

“I saw a ghost !” Rosamond exclaimed, 
as she glanced fearfully out of the still open 
door. 

4 ‘ It must be some one playing a prank, ’ 9 
said Jack, who had risen. Then he added, 
“Up, Jolly Pirates! Let us fare forth and 
capture this ghost/ ’ 

The fudge, which was already on the but- 
tered tins, was set to cool, and so the girls 
declared that they would go along. Not 
one of them believed that Rosie had seen a 
real ghost, for they all knew that she was 
timid and imaginative. 

Rosie, however, was convinced that she 
had seen a being supernatural, and so she 
clung to Adele’s arm fearfully as they went 
out into the warm night. In the sky were 
low, gray clouds, which were slowly drift- 
ing. Occasionally the moon appeared in a 
rift, and then it was dark again. 


150 


ADELE DORING 


4 ‘It will rain before morning,” Dick 
Jensen said. 

“Now, Rosie, ” Jack Doring exclaimed, 
when they were out on the highway, ‘ ‘ I am 
Pirate the Terrible. Lead me to yonr ghost 
and I will scare him so that I will make his 
bones rattle. ” 

“I saw it in the orchard, right at the 
cross-roads,’ ’ said Rosie. 

‘ ‘ Follow me ! ’ ’ J ack commanded. “ We ’ll 
take a short cut through the graveyard.” 

At that Rosamond stopped and ex- 
claimed, “Jack Doring, you’ll do no such 
thing. There are tombstones in the grave- 
yard, — you know there are ! ’ ’ 

“Of course I know it,” Jack agreed. 
“But, my dear Rosie, did you ever hear of 
a stone, tomb or otherwise, taking legs unto 
itself and pursuing a young lady?” 

“No-o,” Rosamond reluctantly admitted. 
“But graveyards are so scary.” 

“We will stay on the high-road,” Adele 
said, wishing that they had not come, since 
Rosie seemed really frightened. 


THE FUDGE PARTY 


151 


The cross-roads was a lonely spot. 
There had been a pleasant home standing 
on one corner, but it had recently burned, 
leaving only a charred ruin and a yawning 
cellar. In the fitful moonlight this looked 
very ghostly. Beyond was an old apple- 
orchard, and on the far corner near the 
fence stood — 

‘ 4 Look! Look!’’ cried Rosie, clutching 
Adele. 4 ‘ There it is ! There ’s the ghost. 
Right there — all in white ! ’ ’ 

They all stopped and stared, — the girls 
startled, the boys puzzled, — for, truly 
enough, a tall, white figure stood silently 
in front of them. Then suddenly an un- 
earthly scream rang through the air, fol- 
lowed by another from Rosamond. 

“That was a screech-owl, ’ ’ Jack said. 
“Now, fellows, if you are worthy of the 
name of pirates, show your courage and 
let’s at the ghost before Rosie faints.” 

“Yo-ho-ho!” the boys shouted as they 
ran toward the white apparition. Then 
such a merry laugh rang out ! 


152 


ADELE DORING 


“Oh, Rosie !” Jack called. “Come, 
quick, and see what your ghost is.” 

No longer afraid, Rosamond went for- 
ward with the others. “What is it?” she 
asked. 

“Why, it’s an old tree-trunk,” Bob ex- 
plained, “and for some reason or other 
Mr. Wiggin had it whitewashed.” 

“Well, it looked like a ghost, anyway,” 
Rosamond said faintly. How the boys 
laughed ! 

“Never mind our fun, Rosie,” Lawrence 
Collins called; “we’ve surely had an excit- 
ing adventure. Now, let’s hike back to the 
fudge, for I am convinced that it is cool.” 

Then the seven boys locked arms and 
marched ahead of the girls, chanting in 
loud voices : 

“ Yo-ho-ho! Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest.” 

“I do wish they wouldn’t sing that 
dreadful song, ’ ’ Rosie said with a shudder. 

Adele laughed as she replied, “I guess 
that we shall have to put up with it as long 
as they are playing Pirates.” 


THE FUDGE PARTY 


158 


“I wonder what they will be next,” 
Peggy Pierce remarked. 4 4 You remember 
that last year they were Indians. ’ ’ 

“Many of them will be going np to the 
city in the fall to attend the high school, 
and so probably this will be their last club,” 
Gertrude replied. 

They were all rather glad to get back 
into the warm, cosy kitchen. 

‘ 4 Good ! ’ ’ cried Betty Burd. ‘ ‘ The fudge 
is cool. It’s so nice and creamy, and the 
nuts are just crowding each other.” 

Then followed a happy half-hour in 
which the candy was eaten amidst much 
joking and laughter. Soon thereafter the 
Jolly Pirates escorted the Sunny Six to 
their homes and quiet settled down over 
the town of Sunnyside. 


CHAPTER THIRTEEN 

THE TWO DRYADS 

It was ten o’clock when Eva and Adele 
went to their room that night. 

4 c Think of it!” Eva declared with shin- 
ing eyes. “The orphans at the Home have 
been in their beds and sound asleep for two 
long hours. I feel as though I were a 
grown-up young lady, don’t you, Adele?” 

“I do, indeed,” Adele replied, “but to- 
morrow morning we may sleep as late as 
we wish.” 

“Oh, what a treat that will be!” Eva . 
said, as she nestled down in the soft bed. 

‘ ‘ In the Home we have to be up at six. ’ ’ 

But, for all their resolution to sleep late, 
both of the girls were wide awake with the 
robins who lived in the apple-tree nearest 


154 


THE TWO DRYADS 


155 


the window. Eva sat up and exclaimed, 
“Oh, Adele, wouldn’t it be lovely on the 
top of Lookout Hill so early in the morn- 
ing ! I ’ve often wanted to climb up there. ’ ’ 

“Let’s go!” Adele replied. 

An hour later, the two girls, having 
breakfasted in the kitchen, even Kate, the 
cook, being still asleep, started out on the 
highway. 

“ I left a note at mother’s place on the 
table,” Adele said, “and I told her that 
we might be gone all the morning. ’ ’ 

Hand in hand the two girls skipped along 
the deserted road, through the village and 
out into the country. 

There the dwellers in tree and grass were 
awake; nodaggards were they. 

“Good morning to you, little squirrel,” 
Eva called gayly, as a little red creature 
darted by. Adele noted with pleasure her 
friend’s shining face. 

“Good-morning, meadow-lark,” she 
called to a bird which was perched on a 
fence-post, warbling its cheeriest song. 


156 


ADELE DORING 


Then, single file, they tripped over the little 
brown path which led across the Buttercup 
Meadows and on up the hill. 

“Look at yonder gnarled oak-tree,” 
Adele exclaimed. “If we rapped upon it, 
do you suppose a door would open and a 
girl dryad would appear?” 

“Oh!” Eva cried, as she stretched her 
arms out toward the glistening fields which 
lay below them. “I almost wish that I was 
a dryad and that I could live forever in 
the wonderful green out-of-doors.” 

“Let’s play that we are dryads,” sug- 
gested Adele, who had not outgrown her 
delight in making-believe. 

“Very well,” Eva gayly replied, as she 
began to unbraid her thick golden hair. 
“We’ll weave garlands of oak leaves and 
then we ’ll dance on the hill-top. ’ ’ 

“Oh, Eva!” Adele cried admiringly. 
“You have the prettiest hair that I ever 
saw. You are like a fairy-tale princess, 
whose golden tresses hung like a mantle 
over her shoulders.” 


THE TWO DRYADS 


157 


“Pm glad,” Eva said simply. “I want 
to look nice to you. Now shake down your 
locks, my nut-brown maid, and I’ll crown 
you with these oak leaves.” 

“We ought to have different names,” 
Adele declared. “You be Dryad Fern and 
I’ll be Dryad Oak-leaf.” Then, taking Eva 
by the hand, she called merrily, “Come, 
Dryad Fern, let’s sing and dance, where the 
wild birds wing and the sunbeams glance. ’ ’ 

Away they went, skipping and singing, 
as graceful and lovely as two dryads could 
be. On the hill-top, just for the joy of it, 
Eva whirled about alone, and Adele, break- 
ing a hollow reed, pretended to play upon 
it, when suddenly a strange voice called, 
‘ ‘ Lovely ! Lovely ! How lucky I am to meet 
two dryads ! ’ ’ 

The girls turned and beheld a young 
woman who was seated in front of an easel. 
“Good morning, little dryads,” she said, 
with a pleasant smile. “You see I am 
painting that oak-tree on the hill-top. I 
was wishing for a dryad to appear, and lo, 


158 


ADELE DORING 


there you were ! Now, here you go upon 
the canvas ! 7 7 

“Oh, how beautiful V 7 Eva exclaimed, as 
she looked at the picture of the hill-top and 
the gnarled oak and the wide, sunny skies. 
“If I could paint like that I should be so 
happy.” 

The artist looked at the girl with a bright 
smile. “Perhaps you could if you tried,” 
she said. ‘ ‘ Have you done any sketching ? 7 7 

“No,” Eva replied. “I have not had 
any chance. ’ ’ 

“I believe that you might have talent,” 
the artist said pleasantly. “I am Madge 
Peterson, from the city. My young 
brother and I are spending a fortnight at 
Little Bear Lake, and if you two dryads 
will go down to the inn with me, I’ll get 
my things and we’ll go sketching. How 
would you like that?” 

“We’d love it!” Adele exclaimed, glad 
to have pleasant things happening, for she 
did so want this to be the happiest week- 
end of Eva’s whole life. 


THE TWO DRYADS 


159 


Soon the easel and paints were packed 
and Madge Peterson, who was little more 
than a girl herself, having just had her 
eighteenth birthday, beamed on her two 
new friends as she said, “Come now, little 
dryads; we will start on our downward 
way. ’ * 

“Oh,” exclaimed Adele, “I forgot some- 
thing ! * ’ 

“What?” asked Madge, looking up 
brightly. 

“My manners,” Adele laughingly re- 
plied. “Miss Peterson, I never thought to 
tell you what our names are.” 

“Why, yes you did,” Madge replied 
gayly. “You are Dryad Oak-leaf and your 
friend is Dryad Fern. ’ ? 

“Oh, but we change back to girls when 
we leave the oak-trees,” Adele said, as she 
began to braid her wavy brown hair, while 
Eva did the same to her golden locks. 

“It’s a pity,” said Madge, who thought 
that she had never before met two lovelier 
girls. 


160 


ADELE DORING 


‘ ‘ There !” Adele exclaimed when their 
hats were on. “Now, Miss Madge Peter- 
son, from the city, permit me to introduce 
to you my friend, Eva Dearman, and my- 
self, Adele Doring, from Sunnyside. ” 

“I am delighted to meet you, ” Madge 
laughingly declared. 

The path they were following was round- 
ing the hill, and suddenly Eva stood still 
with an exclamation of joy. 

“ Adele,’ ’ she cried, “I didn’t know that 
there was such a lovely little lake on the 
other side of Lookout Hill. I have never 
been in this direction since I came to the 
Home.” 

Poor Eva, suddenly realizing what she 
had said, blushed crimson, and then she 
hurriedly explained. 4 ‘ Oh, Miss Peterson, 
I’m just a girl from an Orphans’ Home, 
whom Adele is befriending, out of pity, I 
guess.” 

“How can you say such a thing, Eva 
Dearman ! ’ ’ Adele exclaimed, with flashing 
eyes, as she put her arm around her friend. 


THE TWO DRYADS 


161 


“I love you just as much as I do any of the 
Sunny Six, and my mother says that it 
doesn’t matter what clothes we wear or 
what house we live in; it’s what we are 
that counts.” 

“That is indeed true,” Madge Peterson 
said kindly. “You are a princess among 
girls, Eva, and a princess is no less royal 
because, for a time, she is kept in a dun- 
geon.” Then, to change their thought, 
Madge exclaimed: “See that sail-boat 
rounding Pine Island! There’s a merry 
breeze down there; you can tell by the 
ripple on the water. Why, whatever has 
happened? The sail-boat has tipped over. 
Come, let us hasten down to the shore and 
see if we can help. ’ ’ 

Hurriedly they scrambled through the 
berry-bushes to the edge of the lake. The 
up-turned sail-boat was drifting toward 
them, and a good-looking lad dressed in 
white was calmly sitting on the side of it. 

“I declare if that isn’t my brother, Ever- 
ett,” laughed Madge. Then, making a 


102 


ADELE DORING 


funnel of her hands, she called, “Ship 
ahoy ! * * 

The lad, looking toward them, recognized 
his sister with a joyous shout, and, leaping 
into the water, he swam ashore and soon 
stood before them, dripping wet. 

“Miss Doring and Miss Dearman,” ex- 
claimed Madge mischievously, “may I pre- 
sent to you my young brother, Everett? 
If I had not claimed him, you might have 
mistaken him for a white water-rat, if such 
a creature exists.* * 

Everett made a deep bow as he gayly 
cried, “Young ladies, may I take you for a 
sail? My boat will be in directly.’* 

“You may row us out to Pine Island in 
about half an hour,** Madge declared, “and 
now we’ll leave you to your fate.” 

“My brother is just learning to sail a 
boat,” she explained, as she led the girls 
toward Little Bear Inn. 

“What pretty gardens!” Eva said. 
“And, oh, what a picturesque, rambling 
old house!” 


THE TWO DRYADS 


163 


The inn was built of rough logs, and all 
about it stood great old pine-trees, through 
which the breeze was murmuring. 

“I do love pine-trees,” Adele exclaimed. 
“ There ’s something so restful about 
them.” 

“I like them, too,” Madge said, as she 
led the girls across the wide veranda, on 
which were rustic chairs and tables and 
green bowls filled with ferns and wild 
flowers. 

Eva thought that she had never seen 
anything more attractive than the big cool 
room which they next entered. There were 
heaw beams overhead, and the furniture 
was green willow, comfortably upholstered 
in dark red. There were antlers on the 
wall, and pictures of deer drinking at the 
edge of the lake. 

“Do look!” Eva exclaimed. “Here is a 
picture of the darlingest little bear. Oh, 
Miss Peterson, was the lake named after 
him, do you suppose?” 

‘ 4 So they say, ’ ’ Madge replied. * ‘ There 


164 


ADELE DORING 


is a story about it, which as yet I have not 
heard. ” 

Madge excused herself and went to her 
own room to put away her easel and paints 
and to get her sketching materials. A mo- 
ment later she returned with shining eyes. 
‘ 4 Little dryads,’ ’ she said, “I have a beau- 
tiful plan. You don’t have to hurry back, 
do you!” 

“Not if I can let mother know where we 
are,” Adele replied. “She will be expect- 
ing us home about noon, and I do not want 
her to be worried. We left so early that I 
haven’t seen her to-day.” 

Madge Peterson pointed toward a table 
in the far corner of the room as she laugh- 
ingly declared, “Yonder is the modern 
Mercury, who will gladly carry a message 
to your mother.” 

“Good!” exclaimed Adele when she saw 
the telephone. “But, Miss Peterson, you 
have not told me what I am to say to my 
mother. ’ ’ 

“Ask her if you may stay to lunch with 








THE TWO DRYADS 


165 


me and spend the afternoon, ’ ’ Madge 
replied. 

“Oh, how nice that will be,” Adele said. 
“And I am sure that Adorable Mumsie 
will say Yes.” 

She was quite right. Mrs. Doring, 
knowing that she could rely upon Adele ’s 
good judgment, readily granted the per- 
mission desired. 

“I’m so glad,” Madge Peterson said 
gayly. “Now I’ll hie me kitchenward and 
have a basket filled with good things to 
eat. Then we’ll hunt up brother Everett, 
who is a much better oarsman than sailor, 
and he will row us out to that lovely Pine 
Island. It’s just an enchanting place for 
a picnic-lunch, and there are such pretty 
things to sketch.” 

The two girls were delighted with this 
plan, and they little dreamed of the excit- 
ing adventures they were to have before 
they returned. 


CHAPTER FOURTEEN 


PINE ISLAND 

Half an hour later the merry trio wended 
their way again toward the lake. Eva and 
Adele were carrying a well-laden basket 
between them, while Madge carried the box 
of sketching materials. As they neared 
the boat-house, they beheld Everett, neatly 
clad in a dry suit of white flannels. By the 
side of the dock was moored a wide, com- 
fortable-looking boat. 

The youth saluted them as they neared 
the lake, and then sprang to take the basket 
from the girls. This he stowed in the 
stern as he exclaimed, 4 4 Oh, sister of mine, 
I do hope that yon wicker receptacle con- 
tains about one hundred pies and two hun- 
dred doughnuts, a dozen boiled lobsters, 
and — ” 


166 


PINE ISLAND 


167 


“You may be sure that it doesn’t,” his 
sister interrupted, “but, to tell you the 
truth, I am as ignorant of its contents as 
you are. Ching Ling, the kindly Chinese 
gentleman who presides over the kitchen 
at the inn, filled it for me, and as yet I 
haven’t peeped under the cover.” 

“Oh-h!” groaned Everett in pretended 
dismay. “What if Chingaling gave us 
fried-mouse sandwiches and — ” 

“Everett Peterson! We’ll leave you be- 
hind if you make any more such terrible 
suggestions, ” Madge threatened. 

“Well, that’s what Chinese children eat 
in their native land, isn’t it!” laughed 
Everett. “And as for leaving me behind, 
I’m pretty sure that you won’t do that, as 
I do not believe that any of you know how 
to row.” 

“I do, a little,” Eva replied, as Everett 
unfastened the boat. A few strong, swift 
strokes sent the craft dancing out on the 
sunny blue lake. Eva, with shining eyes, 
looked happily about her. Madge and 


168 


ADELE DORING 


Adele visited, while Everett, with long 
strokes, sent the little craft over the 
sparkling water, and soon the keel grated 
on the sandy beach of the prettiest island 
imaginable. It seemed dense with pine 
trees where they had landed, but at the 
other end they beheld a rocky point. They 
had entered a quiet little cove, and, with 
Everett’s assistance, the girls were soon 
climbing over the bow and then the boat 
was drawn high on the sand. 

“Oh! Oh!” Eva exclaimed to Adele, as 
she caught her friend’s hand. “Isn’t this 
the prettiest place ! Adele, pinch me, will 
you, and see if I am really myself. It 
doesn’t seem possible that only yesterday 
I was an Orphans’ Home girl. To-day I 
feel like — like Cleopatra, or somebody 
rich and luxurious.” 

“Please don’t feel like Cleopatra,” 
laughed Madge, who had heard the last 
part of the sentence. “I’d much rather go 
a-picnicking with Dryad Fern than with 
that historical lady, if it’s all the same to 


PINE ISLAND 


169 


you. Come now, let’s select our banquet- 
hall, for my small brother declares that he 
will turn cannibal and eat us if we do not 
soon spread the viands.” 

“Look! There’s the prettiest place 
under those two pines that seem to be 
twins,” Adele exclaimed. 

4 ‘ True enough ! ’ ’ said Madge. ‘ ‘ And the 
ground is covered with dry pine-needles.” 
Then, turning to her brother, she gayly 
called, “My good Man Friday, bring the 
basket and follow us.” 

Everett didn’t much care what he was 
called, as long as he was being called to a 
feast, and so with several long strides he 
reached the place ahead of the girls. 

“Yum! Yum!” he said as he placed the 
basket on the ground. “Please do hurry 
and give me some. ’ ’ 

“Isn’t it fun not to know what is in the 
basket!” Adele exclaimed, as Madge knelt 
down and took off the red table-cloth which 
covered the top. 

“A bit of color to enliven the scenery,” 


170 


ADELE DORING 


Everett said, as he helped Eva spread the 
cloth on the ground. 

“Now,” Madge exclaimed mysteriously, 
“within our basket are four square boxes, 
one apiece. I’ll give you the biggest one, 
Everett, even if it isn’t manners.” 

“Thanks for your generosity,” Everett 
exclaimed. “I shall eat every crumb 
which this box contains. ’ ’ 

“Perhaps it’s something which doesn’t 
crumble,” Adele suggested. 

Everett lifted the cover just a crack and 
peeped under. 

4 ‘ Ha ! ” he exclaimed mysteriously. ‘ ‘ My 
fondest hopes are realized. To think that 
I may have the contents of this box all for 
myself. ’ ’ 

“Oh, Everett, you are so provoking!” 
Madge cried. “Do let us see what is in 
it.” 

“Very well,” Everett replied. “You 
may have a look and a sniff if you like, but 
nary a bite, for there’s just enough here 
for me.” 


PINE ISLAND 


171 


The curious girls peered into the box 
which Everett held out, and Madge joy- 
ously exclaimed, 4 'Oh, wasn’t Ching Ling 
just a dear. He has given us four fried 
chickens, — one apiece. Here are some 
wooden plates. Everett, you may have the 
biggest bird, for I do suppose that you are 
the hungriest, having been for a sail and 
an unexpected swim this morning. Now, 
Adele, here’s a box for you, and one for 
Eva.” 

"Lettuce sandwiches !” Adele announced 
when she had removed the cover. 

‘ ‘ Olives and pickles ! ’ ’ Eva said glee- 
fully when she peered in her box. 

"Olives!” sang out Adele. "I just 
adore them.” 

"Woe is me!” moaned Everett. "How 
I wish that I had been born an olive ! ” 

"Everett, do behave yourself and bring 
us a bucket of fresh water,” Madge com- 
manded. 

Soon the feast was spread and the tin 
cups filled with sparkling water, and Ever- 


172 


ADELE DORING 


ett’s nonsense was stilled only because he 
was so busy gnawing at the chicken. 

When nothing was left but crumbs and 
bones, Everett exclaimed tragically, “Sis- 
ter, can it be that Chingaling forgot the 
dessert?” 

“Why, there must be dessert of some 
kind, somewhere,” Madge said as she 
looked about. 4 4 Oho ! ’ ’ she added brightly. 
4 4 Here is the fourth box. I forgot to open 
it.” 

4 4 Do not keep me in suspense,” Everett 
cried. 4 4 Is it, can it be, the one hundred 
oozy pies?” 

4 4 No,” Madge replied, as she took from 
the box a chocolate cake with thick frosting. 

4 4 Ah, well,” said Everett resignedly. 
4 4 Deeply as I regret the loss of the one 
hundred pies, I will condescend to accept a 
piece of chocolate cake. I did not say a 
crumb, ’ ’ he added, as Madge handed him a 
slice. 

At length the merry meal was over, and 
the things cleared away. Then Madge ex- 


PINE ISLAND 


173 


claimed, “Now, Everett, yon and Adele 
may explore the island if you wish, for Eva 
and I are going to sketch.’ ’ 

“Come, fair maid!” Everett exclaimed. 
“We’ll pretend this is a South Sea Island 
and that we are about to have an exciting 
adventure. ’ ’ 

That they truly were to have an exciting 
adventure, they little dreamed. 


CHAPTER FIFTEEN 


AN EXCITING ADVENTURE 

“ On this little island are pine-trees green. 

A nicer little island, I’m sure was never seen, 
With a hi— hi— hi, and a ho-ho-ho! 

There may be cannibals lurking about; 

There are some snakes in the rocks, no doubt; 
But if there are, we will scare them out, 

We merry explorers, ho!” 

Everett shouted, as he and Adele started 
to explore the pretty Pine Island. 

“The snakes are more apt to scare us 
out,” Adele said laughingly, when the lad 
paused for breath. 

Meanwhile Madge selected a spot with 
a view of the rocky point. One little pine- 
tree, bent by the wind, stood on the top. 
Eva, who had longed to learn to draw and 
paint, and who had covered many a page 


174 


AN EXCITING ADVENTURE 175 


with imaginary pictures of fairies and 
elves, was eagerly waiting for her first les- 
son. Madge gave her a drawing-board on 
which a piece of paper was fastened with 
thumb-tacks, and then she said, “Now, 
Dryad Fern, you lean back against this 
stump and sketch for me that pine-tree 
on the top of yonder rocks.’ ’ 

Then Madge made herself comfortable a 
short distance away and continued to work 
on a sketch which she had started the day 
before. 

Adele and Everett, exploring the island, 
were nearing the upper end, where the 
ground was rougher and the underbrush 
more dense. 

Thinking to take a short cut to the rocky 
point, they found themselves deep in a 
briery tangle of bushes. 

“I hope you won’t think that I’m overly 
scary,” Adele said, as she stood still, “but 
I don’t like to walk where I can’t see the 
ground, for I might step on a snake.” 

“Not pleasant to contemplate,” Everett 


176 


ADELE DORING 


agreed. 4 ‘ But if you will follow close after 
me, I’ll step on him first, and — ” 

“Hark!” Adele whispered. “I heard a 
noise in those bushes just ahead of us. ’ ’ 

“So did I,” said Everett softly. “And, 
what is more, I saw a strange-looking crea- 
ture that was trying to slink away. It 
walked like a man and yet looked like a 
bear. I am certainly puzzled to know what 
it can mean, for I am sure that no one lives 
on this island. If you will stand still here, 
I will peer over those rocks and see if the 
creature is there.” 

Adele, though usually fearless, could 
feel her heart beating as she stood wait- 
ing, while Everett crept, oh, so still, toward 
the point of rocks. Suddenly he heard a 
digging noise which came from behind a 
bowlder. Stealing toward it, he cautiously 
peered over and beheld a sight which made 
even his brave heart beat quicker. A long- 
haired man, who was dressed in a bear’s 
skin, was digging in the ground among the 
rocks with feverish haste. 


AN EXCITING ADVENTURE 177 


Suddenly he leaped up into the air, giv- 
ing animal-like cries of joy. Then out of 
the hole which he had dug he lifted an iron 
box, which Everett could see was full of 
something which glittered. 

“I must get the girls away from here at 
once, ’ ’ Everett thought, as he stole back to 
Adele. To her he said hurriedly, “The 
man is evidently a miser who lives in this 
wild end of the island. ” 

Then, as they turned to go back to the 
place where they had left the others, he 
added, “Do you know there is something 
very strange about this ? Camping parties 
are continually coming to Pine Island, and 
if there were a wild man living here, he 
would surely be seen by others and the fact 
become known. ’ ’ 

“That is true,” said Adele. “Then 
what do you think it may be?” 

“I honestly don’t know,” Everett re- 
plied ; ‘ 4 but having a little of the Sherlock 
Holmes instinct, I don’t believe that it is 
just what it seems.” 


178 


ADELE DORING 


“Hark!” Adele cried, clutching Ever- 
ett ’s arm. ‘ ‘ What was that ! ’ ’ 

“It was the report of a gun, and there 
is another and another ! Adele, this is cer- 
tainly mysterious,’’ Everett said. “I am 
going to ferret it out. Will you go back 
to the girls?” 

“I would like to go with you,” Adele 
replied. 

“Then come,” the boy said. “We will 
creep along the shore and approach the 
point of rocks from this side.” 

The firing had ceased, and there was no 
noise save the murmuring of the wind in 
the pines. 

Everett led the way up the rocks and 
Adele followed. Suddenly, as they rounded 
a huge bowlder, Everett stopped and 
pointed ahead of them. “Look! There 
is a cave!” he whispered. “This is evi- 
dently where the wild man lives.” 

But Adele ’s gaze was fastened to the 
point of rocks beyond. Suddenly she burst 
into a merry peal of laughter. 


AN EXCITING ADVENTURE 179 


Everett was indeed puzzled. “Adele,” 
he exclaimed , 4 ‘ why do you laugh ? ’ ’ 

“Do you see the flag which is flying on 
yonder rocks ?” she asked. 

“Whew!” Everett whistled. “Why, 
that’s a black flag with a skull and cross- 
bones. Surely the days of pirates are long 
since passed.” 

“You are wrong there,” Adele replied, 
no longer afraid, but desiring further to 
mystify the city lad. “Follow me and I 
will show you the pirates.” 

The girl now took the lead, and over the 
rocks she clambered. Down on the other 
side was a sheltered cove. Adele peered 
over and then silently she beckoned Ever- 
ett to come closer. 

The lad’s alarm was changed to amuse- 
ment when he saw, on the shore below, six 
boys dressed as pirates, with bright hand- 
kerchiefs about their heads. One or two 
of them had earrings hanging from their 
ears, and each one had a belt containing a 
knife and a cutlass and a pistol. They 


180 


ADELE DORING 


were sitting in a circle around a camp-fire, 
and the two silent listeners could hear 
clearly every word that was spoken. 

One pirate was talking excitedly. 
“Shiver my timbers!” he said. “At last 
we have found what we came for. You 
remember Ben Gunn, who was left on this 
deserted island three years ago? Well, 
this minute I sighted the old sea-dog, hairy 
and almost bent double, but, dash my but- 
tons, men, if he hasn’t found that treasure 
that we’ve sailed the seas to get.” 

Then up rose Pirate the Terrible, and in 
a roaring voice he issued an order: “Cap- 
ture the black-hearted scoundrel at once 
and bring him to me. I’ll cut him limb 
from limb and show him no mercy unless 
he hands over the treasure. ’ ’ 

Then, waving their knives in the air, the 
five other pirates leaped around the rocks, 
returning a moment later with the wild 
man securely tied with ropes. 

“Yo-ho!” roared Pirate the Terrible. 
“So you are Ben Gunn. Three years you 


AN EXCITING ADVENTURE 181 


have lived alone on Treasure Island. 
What did you live on, you black-hearted 
scoundrel ? ’ ’ 

“Goat meat and such,” Ben Gunn re- 
plied, looking about wildly. 

“And what have you been doing?” 
roared Pirate the Terrible. 

“Digging for the buried treasure, and, 
dash my buttons, I have found it, and we ’ll 
all share equal if you ’ll take me away with 
you on your ship,” the wild man cried 
eagerly. 

“Old Sea-Dog,” Pirate the Terrible re- 
plied, “you have saved us many days’ dig- 
ging, and so we’ll share equal and take 
you off on the good ship Hispaniola.” 

Then, to the amusement of the on-look- 
ers, the pirates and the wild man began to 
caper about the fire and sing : 

“ Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest. 

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!” 

Adele had risen and was stealing away. 
Everett followed her, glad indeed that their 


182 


ADELE DORING 


scary adventure had ended in so harmless 
a manner. 

“Do you know those boys who were play- 
ing pirates?” he asked, when they were 
again on the shore and well out of hearing. 

“I do, indeed,” Adele laughingly replied. 
“I have the honor of being the sister of 
Pirate the Terrible, but just at first I was 
certainly scared.” 

As they talked, they approached the spot 
where they had left the others. 

“More mystery!” Everett cried. “The 
girls are not here and the boat is gone.” 


CHAPTER SIXTEEN 


MORE MYSTERY 

While Adele and Everett had been ex- 
ploring the island, Madge Peterson and 
Eva had been comfortably seated nnder 
the pine-trees, sketching the point of rocks. 
At first Eva had felt shy and embarrassed, 
but when she found that Madge was not 
watching her, she lost her self-conscious- 
ness and began to draw, and when the 
sketch was finished she laughingly ex- 
claimed, “I really ought not to show it to 
you. I’m afraid I never shall make an 
artist.” 

“Indeed you will,” Madge replied 
brightly. “You have natural talent, and 
now I have a beautiful plan to suggest. 
Have you a guardian or any one especially 
interested in you?” 


183 


184 


ADELE DORING 


Eva shook her head sadly. “No one, ” 
' she replied simply. 

“Then the matron of the Orphanage is 
the one whom I must ask if I wish to obtain 
permission for you to do something, is she 
not?” Madge questioned. 

“Yes, Mrs. Friend is the only mother I 
have, but she is truly kind. Every one is 
kind. Adele has been just like a sister, and 
now you — ” 

“I hope that you will let me be your 
friend,” Madge Peterson said. “I sin- 
cerely believe that you have a talent for 
drawing which ought to be cultivated, and 
if Mrs. Friend is willing I would like you 
to come to the city every Saturday morning 
and attend the Art Institute.” 

“Miss Peterson!” Eva cried, with glow- 
ing eyes. “How wonderful, wonderful that 
would be ! ” 

“We’ll have beautiful times,” Madge 
exclaimed, “and I feel sure that Adele has 
a talent which she, too, would like to culti- 
vate, and you could come together. ’ 9 


MORE MYSTERY 


185 


“Adele writes verses,” Eva exclaimed 
joyously. “She can even make np rhymes 
while she is talking, and — ” 

“Beg pardon, miss,” a strange voice in- 
terrupted. “Would you loan me your boat 
for half a minute? Mine broke loose and is 
drifting out into the lake. I’d be back 
with both of them in no time, and be ever 
so much obliged.” 

Madg^e, looking up, saw before her a 
weather-browned, kindly-faced fisherman, 
and so she replied pleasantly, “Yes, do 
take the boat. We will not need it for half 
an hour at least.” 

Then, rising, she said to Eva, “Now, 
Dryad Fern, let us wander about a bit. I 
want to show you a pretty view from the 
other side of the island.” 

And so it chanced a few moments later, 
when Adele and Everett arrived on the 
scene, they could find neither the girls nor 
the row-boat. 

“Well, this is strange!” Everett ex- 
claimed. “But I believe that it will turn 


186 


ADELE DORING 


out to be as harmless a mystery as the 
other. ’ ’ 

“Hark!” Adele said. “I hear the girls 
calling, and there they come now.” 

4 4 Madge, what has become of our boat f ’ ’ 
Everett inquired, and Madge, for answer, 
pointed out toward the lake, where Everett 
saw two boats approaching the shore. A 
fisherman was rowing a rather rough-look- 
ing craft and towing their own. Madge 
explained how it had happened, and the 
lad went down to the water ’s edge to assist 
at the landing. 

4 4 Thank ye,” said the fisherman, as he 
tossed the painter of the little craft to 
Everett. 4 4 Strangers from the city, I take 
it,” he added, as he looked at the youth’s 
white flannel suit, with a twinkle under his 
shaggy eyebrows. “What would ye think 
now, if ye’d lived on Little Bear Lake, as 
I have, for upward of fifteen year, and not 
been away from it!” 

4 4 Oh, then you must know the story of 
the Little Bear!” Eva exclaimed eagerly. 


MORE MYSTERY 


187 


“We saw a picture of him over at the inn. ,, 

‘ ‘ Know the story? I should say I do! 
Why, little gal, that bear was a good friend 
of mine and the Kid’s. If ye Ve time to row 
over to my shack, I’ll show ye Little Bear’s 
skin and tell ye the tale about him. I live 
in that clump of trees on the mainland 
yonder. ’ ’ 

“We’d love to go,” Madge replied. 

“All aboard!” Everett called, and soon 
the two boats were crossing the lake. 

In a grove of pine-trees the rude shack 
stood. A three-legged stool was in front 
of the door through which the party en- 
tered. There was very little furniture in 
the one room, only things that were abso- 
lutely necessary, and those were home- 
made, it was plain to see. Over a rustic 
bed an Indian blanket was thrown. Three- 
legged stools, a table, and a stove completed 
the furnishings. 

“I cook on a camp-fire mostly,” the fish- 
erman said. “Stoves are too civilized for 
the like o’ me, but when it’s winter that 


188 


ADELE DORING 


stove comes into its own. Many a blustery 
night Little Bear and I would come in 
chilled to the bone, and we ’d make a crack- 
ling fire in that rusty old stove, and glad 
we were to have it, I kin tell ye!” 

4 * Oh ! ’ ’ cried Eva. ‘ ‘ Did Little Bear live 
right here with you? Weren’t you afraid 
of him? I thought bears were ferocious 
and ate people up. ’ ’ 

4 4 Well,” said the old fisherman, “I 
s ’pose there are ferocious ones, maybe, but 
to my thinking there’s no creature more 
good-natured and kindly-intentioned than 
a bear. He won’t fight a man unless he 
sees that the man means to harm him, and 
the bear’s in the right to fight then, I 
should say.” 

A brown bear-skin was nailed on the wall 
of the shack. Smoothing the rough fur, 
the old man said tenderly, “And this here 
skin is all that’s left now of Little Bear. 
Sit down, and I’ll tell ye the story.” 

“Let’s go outdoors under the pines,” 
Madge suggested, and so oat they went. 


MORE MYSTERY 


189 


The weather-tannecl old man sat on the 
three-legged stool, and the four young 
people made themselves comfortable on the 
soft pine-needles which formed a thick car- 
pet under the trees. 

“Many years ago,” the fisherman began, 
“no white men lived on this lake, — just 
Injuns and bear and deer. But one sum- 
mer a lumber-camp was started where the 
inn stands to-day, and upwards of twenty 
white men, armed with axes and guns and 
knives, built log huts about and began to 
live in them. The lake shore in those days 
was covered with great pine-trees, and the 
concern that owned them wanted them cut 
down for lumber, but the Injuns had a 
notion that they owned those pine woods 
themselves, and many a hard fight there 
was between the reds and the whites, but 
the guns beat the arrows in the end, and 
the Injuns moved away farther north. 
Bear and deer were thick in those days, 
and the lumbermen had plenty to eat and 
all the fish they wanted when they took 


190 


ADELE DORING 


time to catch them. After a while other 
white men came and started sheep-raising 
and farming. They were always big, husky 
men, who were used to roughin’ it, but one 
day a covered wagon arrived, and in it was 
a man and a woman and a baby. 

“The man looked pale and sick-like. 
He’d come to the woods for his health, he 
said. He offered the wood-cutters all the 
money he had if they would give food to 
his wife and child. He himself wasn’t long 
for this earth, he said, and he was right, 
for he died that night. 

“Those rough men were sorry enough 
for the woman, and they made her as com- 
fortable as they could. They let her have 
one of the huts to live in. She tried to 
pick up strength for the child’s sake, but 
she just couldn ’t do it, and a week later she 
went to join her man. Then there was 
that baby boy left in the lumber-camp. The 
rough men didn’t know what to do with 
the kid. Some were for sending him to 
the nearest settlement, ten miles away, but 


MORE MYSTERY 


191 


one of them had had a kid of his own once, 
and he said he’d look out for the young 
one, so, after that, the men called Jock 
Henderson the kid’s foster-father. 

“I’m slow coming to the bear, maybe 
ye think, for it’s my way to begin at the 
beginnin’, but prick up yer ears, for the 
bear is soon coming. 

“Kid Henderson, as they called the baby, 
was a jolly little fellow, and when the men 
came home from their work, he toddled 
around and teased to be tossed up into the 
air, so one big man and then another would 
bounce the Kid, and how he would squeal 
and laugh ! Somehow or other, those rough 
men kept things tidier after that, for hav- 
ing a Kid around made it seem more like 
home. And, too, they were careful how 
they talked, — never said a hard word in 
that baby’s hearing. Truth was, Kid Hen- 
derson had crept right into the hearts of 
those rough lumbermen, and, though not 
one would have said it, they all loved him 
like he was their own. That’s why they 


192 


ADELE DORING 


was so frantic-like when the Kid was stolen. 
Did the Injuns steal him! Well, wait and 
you shall hear. 

“As I said, the men had all the deer and 
bear and fish they wanted to eat, but there 
was one Irishman, Pat Mahoney, who had 
a hankering for bacon, and bacon he was 
going to have, he said, if he took a week 
off to get it. The long and the short of it 
was that Pat built a pig-pen out of logs, and 
then he rode to the nearest settlement and 
came back with a litter of little squealing 
pigs that were just old enough to get on 
without the sow. Of course that was a 
good ways from having bacon, but Pat said 
those porkers would be good to eat by win- 
ter, and, as it was then early spring, the 
men were willing to believe him. Kid Hen- 
derson went wild over those little pigs, 
and if he had been let, he would have spent 
all his time in the pen, rolling about and 
playing with them. And now here comes 
the bear, not Little Bear, I’ll agree, for it 
was a huge, big bear that came prowling 


MORE MYSTERY 


193 


around the lumber-camp one night, and, 
smelling pork, he calmly reached over the 
fence and carried off one of the little pigs. 
Pat Mahoney was mad, I kin tell ye. He 
set a trap for old Bruin, but no use, and 
the next night another little pig was 
missing. 

“Then Pat decided to set up and watch 
and shoot the intruder when he came 
prowling around, but something happened 
before night which made all the men forget 
about the pigs. 

“They always put the Kid in the main 
hut and barred the door on the outside 
when they went away to the woods to work, 
but at noon Jock Henderson would ride 
back and get the Kid’s lunch and put him 
to bed for his afternoon nap. The Kid was 
used to being left alone and he didn’t make 
a fuss, — just played around on the floor 
with the rough toys the men had made for 
him. 

“Well, the noon of the day after the sec- 
ond pig had been stolen, Jock Henderson 


194 


ADELE DORING 


went home the same as usual, but when he 
got near, he saw that the hut-door was 
standing wide open. This was curious, 
being as the men had barred it on the out- 
side so ’s the Kid nowise could open it. 

4 ‘Jock sprang into the hut and looked 
all around. The Kid wasn’t there! ‘In- 
juns!’ Jock thought on the instant, but 
his heart went cold when he saw what the 
tracks really was. Not Injuns. No, sir; 
they war bear-tracks ! Looked as though a 
big bear had stood up to scratch his back 
on the rough bark of that door and had 
pushed off the bar. Then, of course, the 
door had opened and Jock Henderson knew 
the rest. The big bear had gone off with 
the little Kid, just as it had with the pigs. 

“Jock leaped on his horse and followed 
the bear-tracks. There ’d been a rain the 
night before and the tracks was easy to 
find. They led up into the hills. Jock 
knew he was running an awful risk, going 
right up into the bear’s den, especially if 
it was a mother-bear with young; but Jock 


MORE MYSTERY 


195 


didn’t care anything about liis own life if 
he could only save the Kid. He tied his 
horse in a pine wood because most horses 
won’t go anywhere near a bear, and then, 
taking his gun, he started through the 
brush and slowly made his way up the hill. 

4 4 He lost the bear-tracks when the ground 
became rocky, and he was just going to 
change his course when he heard a low 
growl. Instantly Jock whirled in that di- 
rection, and he saw a huge bear rearing 
up to its full height and ready to attack 
him. There were no trees around, and 
Jock knew that his only safety lay in hit- 
ting the bear’s heart. If he missed, the 
enraged critter would plunge on him and 
tear him to pieces. 

“Jock Henderson was a good shot, but 
his nerve was pretty much shaken. He 
took aim and fired. The bear stood so still 
for a second that Jock feared he had missed 
it entirely, but in another moment the big 
fellow fell in a heap on the ground. 

“Then Jock looked about for some sign 


196 


ADELE DORING 


of the little Kiel, but he didn’t find any. 
Maybe he’d come too late, he was just 
thinking, when suddenly he saw something 
which brought tears of joy into his eyes. 
He had rounded a heap of rocks, and there, 
in the doorway of a cave, lay the Kid, with 
his head on the woolly back of a little brown 
bear, and they were both sound asleep. 
The old mother-bear had spared the life of 
the little child, as bears often do, and a feel- 
ing of tenderness came into Jock’s heart 
for the poor mother-bear, but of course he 
had to kill her to save his own life. 

4 ‘Then the lumberman took a strap from 
around his waist and he made a muzzle, 
which he put over the nose of the sleeping 
cub. Then he lifted the boy on one arm 
and took the tiny cub under the other, and 
down the hill he went. The small bear was 
soon awake and struggling for its freedom. 
Then the Kid woke up, and finding he was 
safe in his foster-father’s arms, he said: 
‘Nice bear took Kiddie. Nice bear didn’t 
hurt Kiddie.’ 


MORE MYSTERY 


197 


4 4 Meanwhile the other men wondered 
why Jock did not return to the woods that 
afternoon, and they was all anxious and 
watching for him when he appeared with 
the Kid and the little cub bear. When they 
heard the story, many an eye was wet, and 
the Kid had to tell over and over how the 
nice bear took him, but ‘nice bear didn’t 
hurt Kiddie,’ he would always say with 
that winnin’ smile of his. 

“Right then and there the men made up 
their minds that there wouldn’t anything 
get another chance to steal their Kid, and 
after that they never left him alone again. 
If it was fair weather, he was taken to the 
camp, and he liked nothing better; while 
in bad weather the men took turns staying 
behind and lookin’ after him, and so the 
years passed and the little boy and bear 
grew up together. Then something hap- 
pened,” said the old man with a far-away 
look in his eyes. “Well, like as not it was 
best that it did. ’ ’ 


CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 


THE LITTLE BEAR 

“What was it that happened ?” the lis- 
teners asked eagerly. 

“Well, if ye’re not tired of the story,” 
the old fisherman said, “I’ll tell ye the rest 
of it. The men had decided that since the 
mother-bear had been so good to their Kid, 
they’d be good to her little cub, so they 
adopted him, and the bear and the Kid 
grew up together like two brothers. 

“Little Bear was soon as tame as a 
puppy, and though he grew some, he never 
became as big as his mother. Little Bear 
he was always called, and how he did love 
the Kid! When the boy was seven years 
old, the men put together and bought him 
a small horse and a rifle, but wherever he 
went, Little Bear ambled after him. 


198 


THE LITTLE BEAR 


199 


“The men had built a log raft, which 
they pushed about with poles, and, when 
the lake was calm, often the Kid and the 
bear would sit on the raft, and the boy 
would fish. Sometimes the Kid would 
catch a fish that wasn ’t good to eat. How- 
ever, Little Bear wasn’t as particular as 
folks, but he wouldn’t touch a fish until the 
Kid tossed it over to him and called, ‘ Little 
Bear, here ’s a fish for ye ! ’ Then he would 
snap it and gobble it up in a hurry. 

“Kiddie never had any other playmate 
except just Little Bear, and he never 
seemed to want any. Nights after grub, 
when the men were all sitting around, 
swapping yarns and smoking, Little Bear 
would curl up on the ground and the Kid 
would lie there with his head on the bear ’s 
back. How the Kid loved to hear their 
yarns, and the men made them pretty ex- 
citing, just to amuse him. 

“That winter a man came to the camp 
with a fiddle. Then ’twas that the fun be- 
gan. The bear took to music like a duck 


200 


ADELE DORING 


to water, and he just couldn’t lie still while 
that fiddle was being played. He up on 
his hind-legs and galloped about like he was 
trying to dance. That gave the Kid the 
idea of teaching Little Bear to do tricks, 
and he learned them easy. Sometimes the 
Kid would take hold of Little Bear’s paws 
while the fiddle was being played, and they 
would both dance about, and how the men 
would shout to see them! Those were 
happy evenings in the lumber-camp, happy 
for the men and for the Kid and the Little 
Bear. A fine lad the boy had grown to be, 
— tall and slim, with frank blue eyes look- 
ing straight at you out of that handsome, 
weather-tanned face of his, — and not a 
bad word did he know, and that was saying 
a good deal, bein’ as he was raised in a 
lumber-camp with rough men. True, Kid 
hadn’t any learnin’ ’cept what he’d picked 
up watchin’ and studyin’ nature’s ways, 
that is, he didn’t have any till Fiddler Fritz 
came ; he taught him to read out of a book 
which he always lugged around in his 


THE LITTLE BEAR 


201 


pocket. Poems, he called it, — stories of 
knights and ladies. Soon the Kid could 
read them aloud, but Jock never saw no 
sense in the story, but he was powerful 
proud because his Kid could read. 

4 4 One evening Fiddler Fritz sat smoking, 
thoughtful-like, and all of a sudden he said : 
4 Jock Henderson, unless I miss my guess, 
that Kid of yourn comes of a mighty good 
family. Maybe ye ought to be looking them 
up. Maybe ye’re keeping the Kid from 
getting a good education and a start in life. ’ 

4 4 Jock Henderson’s heart turned cold 
inside of him. He’d thought the same 
plenty of times, but he couldn’t bear to part 
with the Kid. Jock saw that Fiddler Fritz 
was expecting an answer, and so he said: 
4 The Kid’s mother was a lady; anybody 
could see that. She only lived a week after 
her man died, but she wrote a letter to some 
brother she had who was rich, she said. 
He’d been angry with her for marrying, 
and so, maybe, that’s why he never an- 
swered her letter. Anyhow, he never did. 


202 


ADELE DORING 


I mailed it myself the day after the woman 
died, and I wrote on the envelope that we’d 
keep the child till called for, so I guess 
nobody’s a better right to keep the Kid 
than I have.’ 

“Now, just as Jock Henderson finished 
speaking, there came a rap on the door, 
and Jock said, the minute he heard it, he 
as good as knew that it was somebody come 
to take his Kid away. It had to be a 
stranger anyhow, for nobody living in those 
parts stopped to rap. 

“Jock could hardly open the door, his 
hand shook so. There stood a tall, gray- 
haired man, and by his clothes Jock knew 
he was from the city. Near by another 
man held the bridles of two horses. 

“ 4 How do ye do, sir,’ the stranger said 
pleasantly. ‘I have been abroad for many 
years, and on my return, last week, I found 
this letter in my desk. Can ye explain it 
to me ? ’ 

“It was the letter Jock had mailed the 
day after the boy’s mother had died. 


THE LITTLE BEAR 


203 


“ 4 Are ye the Kid’s uncle, then?’ Jock 
asked, and his voice trembled. 

“ 4 1 am the brother of the woman who 
wrote that letter,’ the man replied. ‘If 
she had a son, I would like to see him. ’ 

“Jock looked down toward the lake. He 
knew that the Kid had gone walking along 
the shore, as he often did at sunset, with 
Little Bear close at his heels. 

“ ‘There he comes now,’ Jock said, as 
he pointed. And the man, turning, saw a 
graceful, bare-headed and bare-legged boy 
leaping along just for the joy of it, while 
Little Bear, who was full-grown by then, 
was lumbering along, trying to keep up 
with him. 

“ ‘I beat ye, Little Bear!’ the boy cried; 
and then, seeing that there were strangers 
in front of the shack, he stood still and put 
one arm about the bear’s neck. 

“The strange man seemed to choke up 
like. Probably he had been powerful fond 
of his sister before he got angry at her. 
At any rate, he went toward the boy and 


204 


ADELE DORING 


said, ‘My lad, I am your mother’s brother; 
and sol am your uncle. ’ 

“Jock feared that, since the boy wasn’t 
brought up to meet strangers, he might act 
shy-like, but blood tells, and the Kid 
stepped up with his frank smile and held 
out his hand as he said, ‘I thought, sir, that 
you might come to see me some day. ’ 

“ ‘I’ve come to take you home with me, 
my lad,’ the stranger said. But the Kid 
looked up quickly, as he replied: ‘Why, sir, 
I don’t believe that Jock Henderson could 
spare me. He’s been all the father I’ve 
ever had, sir.’ And then, to Jock’s de- 
light, the boy ran to the rough old man and 
caught hold of his hard knotted hand and 
held it tight. 

‘ ‘ ‘ Then it ’s you I have to thank for mak- 
ing my sister’s child into such a tine, manly 
lad, as I can see at one glance that he is,’ 
the stranger exclaimed. ‘I won’t take him 
away from ye, entirely, Jock Henderson, 
that I will not. He shall go to the city for 
his schooling, but it’s only ten miles away, 


THE LITTLE BEAR 


205 


and every week-end he can come riding 
back to visit ye. How would that do, my 
lad!’ 

“But it was Jock Henderson who an- 
swered. ‘That will be a first-rate plan, 
Kid, ’ he said. ‘I’ve been wanting you to 
get an education, and all the week I’ll be 
waiting for Saturday to come, and so will 
Little Bear here. He’ll be as lonesome as 
I’ll be, won’t ye, Little Bear!’ Jock asked, 
trying to be cheerful-like. 

“And that is what happened. The next 
day the Kid rode away on his own small 
horse, which had been his gift one Christ- 
mas from all the men. Lightning, the Kid 
called him, on account of his speed, and he 
loved him next to Little Bear. 

“That was five year ago, and now every 
Saturday, as sure as the day dawns, the 
Kid comes riding down to Little Bear Lake 
toward evening, to spend Sunday with old 
Jock Henderson. 

“The lumber-camp was moved north the 
year after the Kid left, and all the men 


206 


ADELE DORING 


went away except Jock Henderson. He 
had saved enough money to live on, and 
there was plenty of fish and game, and so 
he built him a little shack up the lake shore 
and he and Little Bear settled down to keep 
house together. Then the inn was built 
over where the lumber-camp had been, and 
summer people began coming. They all 
loved Little Bear, and many a sweetmeat 
he got there, but one day he ate poison, it 
seemed like. He moped about all day Sat- 
urday, and when the Kid came, Little Bear 
dragged over to him and put his head 
against the boy, and so he died. The Kid 
cried just like a child, and no wonder, for 
Little Bear had been his only playmate, 
just as Jock Henderson had been his only 
father.’ ’ 

“ Where is Jock Henderson now ?’ 7 
Madge asked, with tears in her eyes. 

“He’s telling the story to ye,” the old 
man said simply. 

“I thought so,” Madge replied. 

Then the old man continued , 4 ‘ The Kid ’s 


THE LITTLE BEAR 


207 


right name is Eric Brownley. He’s fifteen 
years old now and preparin’ for college.” 

“What !” cried Everett Peterson, spring- 
ing up. “You don’t mean to tell me that 
this is the life-story of our Eric Brownley! 
Why, he’s our champion in all the school- 
games.” 

4 4 Sure he is ! ” said the old man, with 
shining eyes. “To-day’s Saturday, you 
know, and I’ve been a-watching for him, 
and, unless I’m mistaken, here he comes 
now ! ’ ’ 

The young people looked eagerly in the 
direction toward which the old man pointed, 
and they saw a horse and rider coming on 
a gallop. 


CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 


A FISH SUPPER 

The lake road was only a stone’s throw 
from the shack, and the boy on horseback 
was soon at the shore. 

4 ‘Hello, Daddy Jock!” he cried before 
he noticed that there were others with his 
foster-father. Leaping to the ground, he 
gave an exclamation of pleased surprise, 
as he cried, “Why, Petey, old man, are you 
here? I thought you were off somewhere 
cramming for the entrance examinations.” 

The two lads shook hands, but not until 
Jock Henderson had had a warm hand- 
clasp from his boy. Everett Peterson 
laughingly replied, ‘ ‘ That ’s why I ’m down 
here, Eric. Nice quiet place to study, 
don’t you think so? But let me do the 
honors. Miss Peterson, Miss Doring, and 


208 


A FISH SUPPER 


209 


Miss Dearman, permit me to introduce you 
to the scapegrace of our school.’ ’ 

Eric smilingly bowed to the girls, as he 
gayly replied, “ ‘I deny the allegation and 
I defy the alligator,’ but I am truly pleased 
to meet three fair maidens in our pine 
woods.” Then, turning to the old man, 
who stood proudly watching him, he ex- 
claimed, “ Daddy Jock, you haven’t a dog- 
biscuit or any little thing like that around, 
have you? I’m so hungry that I could eat 
more than old Giant Blunderbuss.” 

“We would better be going,” Madge de- 
clared, “and then you and Mr. Henderson 
can have your supper. ’ ’ 

“Don’t go, Miss,” Jock Henderson said. 
‘ ‘ I had great luck this day, — caught a fine 
mess of trout, — and if you’ll stay we’ll 
cook them over the camp-fire.” 

“I’d powerfully like to accept that invi- 
tation!” Everett exclaimed. 

Madge turned to the girls. “Adele,” 
she said, “could you and Eva remain 
longer?” 


210 


ADELE DORING 


Adele glanced at her little wrist-watch 
as she replied, ‘ 4 It ’s nearly five now, and I 
ought to be home by six. ’ ’ 

4 ‘We’ll get you there,” Eric declared. 
“That is, if home isn’t more than a million 
miles away.” 

“Not a million, quite,” Adele laughingly 
replied. “We live in Sunnyside. Three 
miles, I think they call it. ’ ’ 

“No distance at all,” replied the youth. 
“I’ll put you both on the back of my trusty 
brown steed and we’ll have you there by 
six surely. Now, Daddy Jock, show us the 
fish ! ’ ’ 

“Lads, gather the wood and make a 
fire,” Jock said, “and I’ll have the fish 
cooked before any of ye have time to 
starve.” 

Then what a merry scurrying there was ! 
Eric and Everett soon had a crackling fire 
in the circle of stones where a fire was often 
made, and then, when it had burned down 
and there was nothing left but red-hot 
coals, the fish were cooked a delicious 



Eric and Everett soon had a crackling tire . — Page 210 





























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A FISH SUPPER 


211 


brown. Eric brought from the shack thick 
plates and steel knives and forks. These 
he handed to the girls with many flourishes. 

“Sit ye down anywhere !” Jock called. 
“Ladies to be served first, and these 
speckled beauties are done to a turn.” 

“Oh-h!” Madge exclaimed, when a 
tempting brown fish was laid on her plate. 
“Am I supposed to eat a whole one?” 

“Wait till you see me eat a whole 
twenty,” Eric remarked, as he gave a fish 
to Adele and another to Eva. Then, 
bringing out bread and butter and filling 
their tin cups with sparkling water from a 
spring, Eric exclaimed, “Now, having filled 
the immediate wants of our fair guests, I ’ll 
hie me over to the small whale that I see 
waiting upon my plate.” 

“I never, never tasted fish cooked to such 
perfection!” Madge declared. 

A merry meal it was, and when at last 
there was nothing left but bones, Adele 
looked at her wrist-watch and then sprang 
up, exclaiming: “It’s quarter to six. We 


212 


ADELE DORING 


never can walk to Sunnyside in fifteen min- 
utes ! ’ ’ 

“Hark!” cried Eric. “I hear an auto- 
mobile plunging madly down the lake road. 
Come on, Petey. Let ’s hold them up, who- 
ever they are, and command them, at the 
point of the gun, to take our fair guests to 
their destination. ’ ’ 

Snatching up a rifle which stood leaning 
against the shack, he emptied the barrel as 
he ran toward the road. The machine had 
not yet turned the curve, and when it did, 
the driver was indeed surprised to see two 
highwaymen standing in the middle of the 
road, but their laughing, boyish faces 
showed that they were not very dangerous. 
Beside the driver a young girl was seated. 
When the car had slowed down, Eric ex- 
claimed, “Kind sir, if you are going to 
Sunnyside, we have passengers for you.” 

Just then Madge and the two girls 
emerged from the pine trees, and Adele 
joyously cried, “Oh, it’s Betty Burd and 
her Uncle George. Mr. Wainwright, would 


A FISH SUPPER 


213 


you mind if we rode with you into town? 
Mother is expecting us home by six. ” 

“Why, Adele Doring!” Betty exclaimed 
before her uncle could reply. “You know 
we’re glad to have you.” 

Then Adele introduced her friends, and 
Betty asked, “Miss Peterson, wouldn’t you 
like to ride with us ? ” 

“Why don’t you, Sis?” Everett ex- 
claimed. “It won’t take but a moment for 
Mr. Wainw T right to stop at the inn, and 
then I’ll stay a spell with my old friend 
here.” 

4 ‘ Bully ! I wish you would ! ’ ’ Eric cried, 
clapping his hand on his friend’s shoulder. 
So when the car started again, the three 
smaller girls were seated on the wide back- 
seat, while Madge Peterson sat with the 
driver. 

Mr. Wainwright drove slowly, because, 
as he explained, the lake road was in rather 
poor condition. Adele, hearing this, 
smiled, for the car had been plunging along 
when the boys had stopped it. 


i 


214 


ADELE DORING 


“Miss Peterson,” Betty ’s Uncle George 
said, with his pleasant smile, “I have met 
von before, haven’t I?” 

“Have you? Where?” Madge glanced 
up inquiringly, and then she exclaimed, 
“Oh, yes, I know — at Dora Pendleton’s 
Musical Tea.” 

“And you had some drawings exhibited 
that day,” Uncle George continued. “I 
remember that I thought they were ex- 
cellent. ’ ’ 

Madge smiled, as she said, “I truly did 
not want to have them exhibited, but Dora 
Pendleton knew that I was eager to do some 
illustrating, and she said that several writ- 
ers would be among the company, and that 
it might be a good plan to show them 
samples of my work.” 

“A splendid plan!” Uncle George said 
warmly. “And I am sure that you re- 
ceived an order.” 

“I did, indeed!” Madge exclaimed en- 
thusiastically. “And such an interesting 
one it has proved. Miss Kimberly, the 


A FISH SUPPER 


215 


children’s poet, was there, you remember, 

and she has asked me to illustrate her book 

# 

of fanciful child-verse. I am having the 
most beautiful time making the drawings, 
and, besides that, it pays well and I need 
the money.’ ’ 

Adele was surprised to hear this, as she 
had supposed that Madge Peterson had no 
need to earn money. When the inn was 
reached and farewells had been exchanged, 
Madge called, “I’ll be at the Home on 
Monday, Eva,” and then the car sped on. 
Little did the three girls dream of the won- 
derful something that was going to happen 
because of that lake-shore ride. 


CHAPTER NINETEEN 

A TRIP TO THE CITY 

When Eva Dearman awoke on Monday 
morning in her little iron cot-bed in the or- 
phanage dormitory, somehow she did not 
see things plain and unattractive, as they 
really were. There was such a joyous 
anticipation in her heart that even the dull 
gray morning seemed aglow. She met 
Amanda Brown in the hallway and gave 
her a sudden hug, as she exclaimed, “I 
have had the loveliest time, Mandy. Did 
you miss me just a little bit?” 

Amanda clung to her friend, as she 
sobbed : 4 ‘ Oh, Eva, don ’t go away and leave 
me again. It’s just like funerals all the 
time when you are gone. Everybody else 
is so horrid to me. I tried being nice, the 


216 


A TRIP TO THE CITY 


217 


way you asked me to, and then the girls 
said I was aping after you, and they called 
me Miss Dearman.” 

“Well, it’s just a mean shame !” Eva 
cried, with flashing eyes. “How girls can 
take pleasure in being unkind is more than 
I can understand. But don ’t cry, Amanda ! 
There ’s half an hour yet before classes; 
let’s run to the woods and back.” 

All that day it was hard for Eva to keep 
her mind on her work, for had not her won- 
derful artist-friend said that she would 
call at the Home on Monday! And so 
Eva was continually expecting to be called 
to the office. Would Mrs. Friend allow 
her to accept the drawing-lessons? she 
wondered. 

Never did a day pass more slowly, and, 
for the first time since she had been there, 
Eva’s recitations were poor, but the 
teacher, Miss Bently, loved Eva, and was 
very patient with her. At last there came 
a rap on the class-room door and Eva held 
her breath. Who would it be? Perhaps 


218 


ADELE DORING 


Mrs. Friend would bring Madge Peterson 
to visit the class-room, but it was only a 
little girl with a note. Miss Bently read 
it and then glanced up with a smile. She 
believed that she now understood her favor- 
ite ’s mental preoccupation. 

“You are to go to Mrs. Friend’s office, 
Eva,” she said, kindly. “You have a 
visitor.” 

The girl’s face glowed as she went to- 
ward the door. In the office Madge Peter- 
son was seated. She arose as Eva entered, 
and, taking both her hands, she exclaimed : 
“Eva, I have splendid news for you ! Mrs. 
Friend is pleased with our plan, and you 
may come to the city next Saturday morn- 
ing and spend the day with me. ’ ’ 

“Oh, Mrs. Friend!” Eva cried joyously. 
“How can I ever thank you!” 

“It is Miss Peterson whom you must 
thank, Eva,” Mrs. Friend replied. 

“I do indeed thank her,” the girl ex- 
claimed, with shining eyes. “And I hope 
I shall become such a famous artist that 


A TRIP TO THE CITY 


219 


she will feel repaid for her interest. Shall 
you be very much disappointed if I don’t, 
Miss Peterson?” 

“Indeed I shall not,” Madge laughingly 
replied. “I never expect to acquire fame 
myself, but I do get a great deal of pleasure 
from my sketching, and now and then I am 
asked to do a bit of illustrating and so 
earn extra pin-money, or Roberty-Bob- 
erts money, I should say. Some day you 

must meet little Bob, Eva. You will just 

\ 

love him.” 

Then Madge expressed a desire to look 
about the orphanage and the matron asked 
Eva to show her friend the building and 
the grounds. What a happy hour it was 
for that orphan girl ! and Madge, who was 
patroness of another orphanage, took great 
interest in seeing how this one was con- 
ducted. 

Then, arm in arm, these two friends 
sauntered to the front gate. There stood 
a little olive-green car, which Eva thought 
was the prettiest she had ever seen. 


220 


ADELE DORING 


“I like it,” Madge exclaimed, “but 
Brother Everett makes fun of it. His car 
is as big a one as he could find, and when 
they stand together in the garage Everett 
says they look like a giant and a pigmy, so 
I have named my car Pigmy, and we are 
the best of comrades. Some day, Eva, you 
shall go riding with me.” 

Then Madge was gone. She wanted to 
visit Adele’s mother and make further 
plans for Saturday. 

Was ever a week so long? the orphan girl 
wondered, but at last Saturday dawned 
bright and sunny. Eva awakened with the 
feeling that something wonderful was going 
to happen, and then she remembered ! 
Leaping from her little cot-bed, which was 
the last of a long row, she looked out of the 
open window and up at the sky. How 
gleaming and blue it was ! and out in the 
orchard the birds were singing their happy 
morning-songs. Eva wished that she too 
might s'ng, but even then the dressing-bell 
was ringing, and the nineteen other or- 


A TRIP TO THE CITY 


221 


phans who slept in that dormitory were 
tumbling out of their beds. 

“Good morning, Amanda/ ’ Eva said 
softly to the girl who slept in the cot next 
her own. 

“Good morning,” Amanda replied, but 
she turned quickly away. She did not want 
Eva to see that she had been crying in the 
night. 

At breakfast the orphans were allowed 
to talk, and Eva chattered like a magpie, 
making every one near her bright and 
happy, but not once did she tell about her 
trip to the city, because she did not want 
the other girls to feel that she was having 
pleasures which they could not share. 

When the orphans had gone about their 
Saturday-morning tasks, Eva went up to 
the dormitory to put on her pretty white 
dress. When she was ready to go, she 
slipped her mother’s picture out of its hid- 
ing-place and whispered, “Oh, mumsie, 
dear, everybody is so kind to your little 
girl. Aren’t you glad?” 


222 


ADELE DORING 


Then down the stairs she skipped, and 
there was Adele Doring waiting for her 
in the hall. 

“What do you think f ” Adele exclaimed. 
“We have an invitation to ride into town 
with Bob Angel and Brother Jack. They 
were going in to see a ball game on the 
high-school campus, and mother said that 
we might ride in with them. ’ ’ 

“Will wonders never cease ?” Eva said, 
joyously. “I adore riding in autos and I 
almost never have the chance.’ ’ 

Mrs. Friend stepped out of her office and 
greeted Adele. Then she looked over her 
young charge, to see if all the buttons were 
in the right holes, for Eva w r as so excited 
that she could not keep her mind on ordi- 
nary things. 

‘ 4 Have you a clean handkerchief, dear ? ’ ’ 
Mrs. Friend asked. Eva felt in her pocket. 
It was empty. “ I ’ll run back and get one, ’ ’ 
she said. “I won’t be half a jiffy.” 

Up the stairs she fairly flew and into 
the dormitory she danced. Suddenly she 


A TRIP TO THE CITY 


223 


stopped. She heard some one crying. On 
the bed next to her own a girl was lying, 
sobbing as though her heart would break. 
It was Amanda Brown. Eva flew to her 
friend, and, putting her arms about her, 
asked: “Mandy, dear, what is the matter? 
Has some one been mean, horrid, to you?” 

“No-o!” sobbed the girl. “Oh, Eva, I 
thought you were gone! Please, please 
don’t let me spoil your day.” 

“Mandy,” Eva said firmly, “tell me why 
you are crying! I shall stay here until 
you do.” 

Amanda knew that Eva meant what she 
said, and so she replied brokenly, “It’s — 
it’s my birthday, Eva, and nobody cares.” 

Tears rushed to Eva’s eyes, and she held 
her friend close. She remembered how 
lonely she had felt on her birthday, when 
she thought that nobody cared. 

“I care, Amanda Brown,” Eva ex- 
claimed sincerely. “You wait here a mo- 
ment. I’ll be right back.” And before 
Amanda could prevent it, Eva had left the 


224 


ADELE DORING 


dormitory. Down the stairs she went more 
slowly, and the two watching from below 
wondered at her changed expression. 

“Mrs. Friend,” Eva said, “I can’t go to 
the city! It is Amanda Brown’s birthday, 
and she will be so unhappy if I go away 
and leave her. I know how I felt when I 
thought that nobody cared about my 
birthday. ’ ’ 

“Oh, Mrs. Friend!” Adele exclaimed. 
“Couldn’t we take Amanda Brown with 
us? I know Miss Peterson would be so 
glad to have her.” 

Mrs. Friend readily consented, so Eva 
hurried back to the dormitory with the 
news, and when Amanda tried to refuse, 
insisted that she would remain at home 
unless her friend would go with them. 

In less time than it seemed possible, Eva 
had Amanda dressed in her Sunday best, 
and the three girls hurried down the 
gravelly walk to the gate. Bob Angel 
leaped to the ground and threw open the 
door of the car with a flourish. “Good 


A TRIP TO THE CITY 


225 


morning, ladies,” he said. “Jack is your 
chauffeur and I am your footman.” 

“My! What a grandness!” Adele 
laughingly exclaimed as the lad helped 
them into the car. 

Then such a joyous ride as they had! 
They had to take off their broad-brimmed 
hats, and the fresh wind soon blew the tear- 
stains from Amanda’s cheeks, and left 
there such a rosy color that the other two 
girls, looking at her, thought that she would 
be truly beautiful if only she was loved and 
made happy. 


CHAPTER TWENTY 


AMANDA BROWN 

The ride, which Amanda Brown wished 
would last for hours, was quickly over, for 
the city was only ten miles away, and very 
soon the speed had to be slackened as they 
entered the busy streets. 

“Here is Miss Peterson’s address,” 
Adele said, as she handed Jack a slip of 
paper. 

“Nice neighborhood that,” Bob com- 
mented as he read it. It was indeed a nice 
neighborhood, as the girls decided when, 
a few moments later, they turned oft of the 
noisy streets and found themselves in a 
place so quiet that it seemed like the village 
of Sunnyside. There was a small park, 
green with grass and trees, around which 
stood handsome brown-stone houses. Adele 


226 


AMANDA BROWN 


227 


was puzzled. If Madge Peterson lived in 
one of these, what could she have meant 
by saying that she needed to earn money 
with her drawing? Adele had not heard 
of Roberty-Bob. 

Jack had stopped the car at the curb, 
and Adele laughingly said, “Our footman 
ought to go up and ring the bell. ’ ’ 

“Very well, Miss Doring,” Bob gayly 
replied. “Your footman will do your bid- 
ding. ’ ’ 

So out of the car the lad leaped, and up 
the flight of stone steps he ran, but before 
he could ring the bell the door opened and 
there stood Everett Peterson. 

“Why, Bob Angel !” he cried. “This is 
great! Did you come in for the game?” 

“Well, Everett, do you live here?” Bob 
exclaimed in surprise. Bob was already 
doing some preparatory work at the North 
High, and it was there they had met. 
Then suddenly remembering the part he 
was supposed to be playing, Bob said sol- 
emnly, “Mr. Peterson, at present I am 


228 


ADELE DORING 


Miss Doring’s footman, and she sent me to 
inquire if your sister is in.” 

“So that’s it,” laughed Everett. “Yes, 
my sister is at home, and is expecting her 
guests.” 

The three girls now appeared on the 
porch, and Madge, hearing merry voices, 
came out of the library to greet them. She 
was indeed glad to meet Amanda, and that 
orphan girl, who had dreaded coming, for 
fear she would not be welcome, was soon 
put at her ease. 

Everett and Bob had gone back to the 
car, and Everett was introduced to Adele ’s 
brother, Jack. 

“I’ll tell you what,” Everett cried. 
“You fellows come back here for lunch and 
we’ll all go to the game together.” 

Meanwhile Madge had led the girls into 
the library, which was richly though simply 
furnished. She asked them to be seated 
while they talked over which classes they 
would like to enter. “The Art Institute 
is just around the corner, and we are not 


AMANDA BROWN 


229 


due there until ten-thirty, ’ ’ Madge said. 
"Of course, you lassies understand that it 
is an endowed institute, and so the classes 
are free. Eva has decided to take draw- 
ing. Adele, what would be your choice ?” 

"Oh, Miss Peterson!” Adele cried joy- 
ously. “I didn’t know that I was to take 
anything. Have they a class for writers? 
I may not have any talent, but I ’d so love to 
try. ’ ’ 

Miss Peterson smiled at the girl’s enthu- 
siasm as she replied, 4 ‘ Then you shall have 
the opportunity, and really wanting to do 
a thing is half of success, I think, because 
one is more apt to persevere in spite of 
seeming failures.” Then, turning to 
Amanda, she said kindly, 4 ‘And what talent 
have you hidden away, little Miss Brown?” 

Amanda flushed with evident embarrass- 
ment as she replied, “Oh, Miss Peterson, 
I don’t suppose that I have any talents. 
If I have, I don’t know what they are. I 
never had a chance to try anything. ’ ’ 

Madge Peterson’s heart was touched 


230 


ADELE DORING 


with pity for this forlorn girl, and she said 
softly, “ Amanda, won’t yon tell ns a little 
abont yonr life, before yon went to the 
orphanage, and then perhaps we shall know 
how best to find yonr talent?” 

“ There isn’t much to tell,” Amanda said 
hesitatingly. 1 ‘ My mother was only eight- 
een when I came. She sang in concert- 
halls, and folks said her voice was like an 
angel’s, sweet and sad-like. All that I 
seem to remember of her looks is that her 
face was so white and her dark eyes shone 
like stars. She used to leave me in a little 
back room when she sang, and then, when 
her part was over, she would catch me up 
in her arms and hold me close, and some- 
times she cried. Then, when I was seven 
years old, she was taken sick. A kind old 
woman took care of ns. One day my 
mother called me to her bedside. She said, 
‘Little daughter, if yon can sing when you 
grow up, promise me that you won’t sing 
in concert-halls.’ Of course I promised. 
The old woman kept me for a while after 


AMANDA BROWN 


231 


mother died, but she didn ’t have any 
money, and so she sent me to the orphanage 
and I’ve been there ever since, and now 
I am thirteen.” 

There were tears in the eyes of the listen- 
ers, and Madge said kindly, “Amanda, 
would you like to try to sing?” 

Amanda shook her head. “You have to 
feel happy inside to want to sing,” she 
said, “and I never feel that, at least I 
never did until Eva came, ’ ’ she added, with 
a loving glance toward her friend. 

Then Madge rose and said , 4 ‘ Come, girls, 
we will go to the Art Institute now. ’ ’ 

A few moments later they were entering 
a large building only a block from the 
Peterson home. Eva was placed in a draw- 
ing-class and Adele in one for composition. 
When the other two were alone, Madge 
said kindly, “Amanda, there is a dear old 
singing-master here. I have known him 
for years. Will you let him try your 
voice ? ’ ’ 

“If you wish it,” Amanda replied. 


232 


ADELE DORING 


The kindly professor welcomed them and 
was soon testing the quality of the girl’s 
voice. Later, he drew Madge aside and 
said : ‘ 1 The child has a sweet tone, though 
not strong. There is a sad note in her 
voice, strange for one so young. I will 
teach her gladly, and see what we can make 
of it.” 

And so it was that a new joy came into 
the life of Amanda Brown. 


CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE 

THE BALL GAME 

When the classes were over, the girls 
met in the lower hall, and Eva was de- 
lighted to hear that Amanda had consented 
to have her voice tried. “And now you 
will come in with us every Saturday,” she 
whispered to her friend, when, for a second, 
they were together in the merry throng 
of students who were leaving the building. 

When they entered the Peterson home, 
a few moments later, they heard a great 
racket overhead. 

“It sounds as though there were wild 
Indians in the house,” Madge laughingly 
exclaimed. “Ho, there, Brother Everett! 
Are you making all that noise just by your- 
self?” 


233 


234 


ADELE BORING 


“Not much, sis,” a boy’s voice replied. 
“I have company. Be down directly.” 
And before the girls had time to lay olf 
their wraps, down the stairs Everett leaped, 
followed by Bob Angel and Jack Doring. 

“Sister mine,” Everett cried, “I do hope 
that you ordered grub enough, for three 
uninvited guests are coming to your party 
and we’re as hungry as Russian wolves in 
winter.” 

Madge laughed and was about to reply, 
when Jack Boring exclaimed, “Miss Peter- 
son, I do hope that we are not intruding. 
Bob and I had no intention of staying, 
but—” 

Madge laughingly held up her hand as 
she replied, ‘ ‘ My dear boy, if we had twenty 
unexpected guests, it would not incon- 
venience us in the least. ’ ’ 

“We’d just add twenty more cups of 
water to the soup,” Everett explained 
gayly, and then the Chinese gongs called 
them to the dining-room. The cook, who 
was an especial friend of Everett’s, had 


THE BALL GAME 


. 235 


been duly notified by that youth, and so the 
correct number of places had been laid. 

The boys were so excited over the coming 
game that they could talk of nothing else. 
There were two high schools in the city, 
and the North High was to play against 
the South High. Everett attended the 
North High, and so, of course, his guests 
were on his side. 

4 4 Well win!” Everett cried. * ‘How 
could we lose? We have the best pitcher 
this side of Jerusalem.” 

“Everett!” Madge exclaimed. “Isn’t 
that a good deal of a boast? Jerusalem is 
a long way off. Wouldn’t you better say 
Sunnyside ? ’ ’ 

“No, ma’am,” Everett retorted. “Eric 
Brownley is the best pitcher in the whole 
United States, or I miss my guess.” 

“Why, that’s the boy we met at Little 
Bear Lake, isn ’t it ? The one who had been 
brought up by that nice old lumberman?” 
Adele asked. 

“The very same!” Everett replied. 


236 


ADELE DORING 


And then, as soon as lunch was over, the 
merry party put on their wraps, entered 
the two cars, and were soon driven to the 
campus of the North High, where the game 
was to be held. 

Everett was so excited that he simply 
had to shout, but a great disappointment 
was awaiting him. 

The North High campus was crowded 
with merry boys and girls. Those who 
were from the South High waved bright 
red pennants, and those from the North 
High had equally bright yellow ones. 
Every time one of the ball-players ap- 
peared, his particular class-mates gave 
their yell and cheered him until he disap- 
peared again. 

“The Souths are making a great to-do,’ ’ 
Everett said scornfully. “As though they 
had a ghost of a chance of winning! Not 
they, with our Eric Brownley on the dia- 
mond. Now, here come the players, and 
when you see Eric, yell like good ones.” 

The girls stood on tiptoe and watched 


THE BALL GAME 


237 


for Eric as eagerly as did the boys. The 
players were taking their places, and yet 
Eric did not appear. 

‘ ‘ Great gnns ! ’ ’ Everett cried in dismay. 
4 ‘There’s Dorset, Eric’s sub! What’s he 
pitching for, I wonder? Say, you wait here 
till I find out.” 

Everett, with a heavy heart, made his 
way through the crowd to the diamond. 
One of the players gave the information 
that he sought, and Everett returned to his 
friends, looking anything but cheerful. 

“It’s all up,” he said dismally. “The 
game is as good as lost. I’ve a mind to go 
home. ’ ’ 

“Why, Everett,” Madge asked. “What 
has happened?” 

“Oh, that old lumberman down at Bear 
Lake was hurt or something, and they sent 
for Eric two days ago, and he said that if 
he possibly could, he’d be back for the big 
game, but he didn ’t make it. Imagine any- 
thing keeping a fellow from playing this 
game when he ’s bound to be the victor, ’ ’ 


238 


ADELE DORING 


“I felt sure that Eric Brownley was a 
fine lad,” Madge declared warmly, “and 
now I know that he is. ’ ’ 

The game had commenced and the North 
High was decidedly getting the worst of 
it. They were not even playing their best ; 
they were all disheartened because Eric 
had failed them. 

The students from the South High were 
making the place ring with their cheers. 
Everett was disgusted. 

“We’ve as good as lost. Come on! I’m 
going home,” he said, when suddenly 
there was a commotion in the crowd. 

“What’s up?” Everett asked, trying to 
see over the heads. 

“There’s a horseman coming at top 
speed down the road,” some one replied, 
“and it might be Eric Brownley.” 

“It is Eric!” Everett cried excitedly, as 
he pushed through the crowd. 

Eric had already leaped from his foam- 
ing horse and had entered the shack. As 
soon as possible he reappeared in his suit, 


THE BALL GAME 


239 


and what a cheer went up when Dorset 
dropped out and Eric took his place on the 
diamond. The rest of the nine took heart, 
and never before had they played such a 
splendid game as they did then. 

When it was over the boys from the 
North High took Eric on their shoulders 
and bore him in triumph to the shack. 
Everett’s joy knew no bounds, and he 
shouted until his hero had disappeared. 
Soon after, the three girls and Bob and 
Jack bade their host and hostess farewell 
and sped away over the smooth road which 
led to Sunnyside. 


CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO 


THE KING'S HIGHWAY 

One day in the week following, Gertrude 
Willis and Adele were seated on the front 
veranda of the Doring home, when the post- 
man came up the walk. 

“Does Miss Adele Doring live here?” 
he asked with twinkling eyes. 

“Oh, Mr. Drakely!” Adele exclaimed, 
skipping down the walk to meet him. 
“Have you really a letter for me? Thank 
you so much! Letters are a rare treat,” 
she confided to Gertrude, “because all of 
my friends live in Sunnyside, and so there 
is no one to write to me except Uncle Jerry, 
but this letter hasn’t a foreign post-mark 
and so it isn’t from him. Why, it’s from 
Dorchester, and so, of course, Madge Peter- 
son must have written it. She is that 


240 


THE KING'S HIGHWAY 


241 


charming artist that I have been telling you 
about, Gertrude. I am so eager to have 
you meet her.” 

Then Adele, reseating herself in the 
porch-swing, tore open the pale blue enve- 
lope, with its delicate odor of spring vio- 
lets, and read aloud: 

“Dear Dryad Oakleaf: 

“I just happened to remember that you 
once told me that you belong to a clan of 
seven girls. Are there any among them 
who have talents which they are eager to 
cultivate? If so, do bring them with you 
on Saturday mornings to attend the Insti- 
tute. The more the merrier, and I shall 
be glad to have them take luncheon with 
me, as I shall always expect you and Eva 
and Amanda to do. 

“Your loving friend, 

“Madge Peterson.” 

“Oh, Gertrude!” Adele cried joyfully. 
“Could anything be nicer? I have so 
wished that you might go with me to take 
composition. I am just sure that you have 
talent for writing. Do you suppose that 
your mother could spare you?” 


242 


ADELE DORING 


“If mother will permit me to do my 
share of the cleaning on Friday, ’ ’ Gertrude 
said, “I would be glad to go, and, since it 
is vacation, I am sure that I can. I do want 
to study everything that will help me to 
become a writer. I enjoy that more than 
anything else, and I am eager to find some 
way to earn money, so that I may help edu- 
cate the babies. There are so many of us, 
and a minister’s salary is not princely.” 

“Then I will write Miss Peterson this 
very day and tell her that one of my dear- 
est, bestest friends will gladly accept her 
invitation,” Adele exclaimed happily, as 
she gave Gertrude an impulsive hug. 

Although Adele loved all of the Sunny 
Six, some way Gertrude was a little nearer 
and dearer, and she was beginning to think 
that, next to her, she loved Eva Dearman 
most among her friends. 

Mrs. Willis was as pleased with the invi- 
tation as Adele and Gertrude had been, and 
the very next Saturday four girls instead 
of three went into the city of Dorchester. 


THE KING’S HIGHWAY 


243 


This time they traveled by train, but the 
station being within a few blocks of the 
Institute, the country girls were in no dan- 
ger of being lost. 

Madge was charmed with gentle Ger- 
trude and welcomed her graciously. 
“ Girls,” she said, as she drew on her 
gloves, “it is early, and since I have an 
errand in another part of town, I thought 
that perhaps you would like to accompany 
me.” 

“We would, indeed,’ ’ Adele replied, and 
soon they were all in Everett’s big car and 
that youth was slowly driving them through 
the crowded down-town district. The 
streets became narrower and noisier. The 
people were shabbily dressed, dirty chil- 
dren played in the gutters, loafers lounged 
on the corners. The air seemed hot and 
heavy with unpleasant odors. On both 
sides of the street were wretched tenement- 
houses. 

‘ ‘ I have heard of this district, ’ ’ Gertrude 
said, “but I never before visited it. Oh, 


244 


ADELE DORING 


Miss Peterson, doesn’t it make one’s heart 
ache to think that so very near are fields of 
daisies and buttercups, and yet these babies 
have to play in the gutters ? ’ ’ 

Madge nodded, and then, as the car was 
stopping at the curb, she opened the door, 
and, taking a covered basket, led the way 
across the walk. Ragged little children 
stopped their play and watched them 
curiously with open eyes and mouths. 
Madge smiled down at them and then en- 
tered a dark, narrow hallway and began 
climbing the rickety stairs. 

“I thought it was hard to have to live 
in the Home,” Eva said softly to Adele, 
“but how thankful we ought to be that we 
do not have to live in a place like this.” 

Soon Madge was rapping on an upper 
door. 

“Come in, Fairy Godmother!” an eager 
boy’s voice called. Madge opened the door 
and they entered a room which was very 
different from the dark, shabby halls which 
they had just left. Here all was clean and 


THE KING’S HIGHWAY 


245 


homelike. The windows were filled with 
blossoming plants, and a canary, hanging 
in the sunshine, was warbling his cheeriest 
song. Goldfish splashed and sparkled in 
their big shining bowl. A fluffy white kit- 
ten on the floor frisked about with a red 
ball for a playmate. A bright-eyed little 
hunchbacked boy sat on a softly-cushioned 
wheeled chair. He looked up with eager 
eyes. 

4 ‘ Good morning, Roberty-Bob,” Madge 
said. “I have brought some of my friends 
to call upon you. We cannot stay long, 
however, as we are on our way to the Art 
Institute, but I found the book that you 
wanted in the library this morning, and so 
I brought it right over. ” 

“Oh, good!” Roberty-Bob said with 
shining eyes. “The last one you brought 
was such a beautiful story, Fairy God- 
mother. It was all about the King’s High- 
way.” Then, turning to Gertrude, he 
asked in his eager, friendly way, “Do you 
know where the King ’s Highway is ? ” 


246 


ADELE DORING 


“I suppose it is where a king lives, and 
where princes and princesses play in beau- 
tiful gardens,” Gertrude replied, with her 
sweet smile. 

“You are wrong!” the strange child ex- 
claimed. “She is wrong, isn’t she, Fairy 
Godmother? God is the King, and His 
Highway is just wherever you are. ’ ’ 

Gertrude’s heart was touched by what 
she had seen and heard, and when they were 
in the street again she looked at the forlorn 
little children playing in the gutters and 
she said to Adele, “And so this is the 
King’s Highway, and oh, Della, I was being 
so thankful before we went up-stairs that 
we didn ’t have to live here ! ’ ’ 

Roberty-Bob was waving to them from 
his high window, and the girls waved in 
return. 

“I guess I won’t grumble any more,” 
Amanda Brown declared. “Here I have a 
straight back and I can run if I want to, 
but it seems I’m always feeling fretful 
about something, and there’s that little 


THE KING’S HIGHWAY 


247 


fellow, with his crooked back, keeping so 
bright and cheerful .’ 9 

“Does Roberty-Bob have to sit alone all 
day long?” Adele asked, as the car was 
slowly wending its way back to a pleasanter 
part of the city. 

“Yes,” Madge replied. “His mother 
works in a factory, and she leaves early in 
the morning and does not return until late, 
but Roberty-Bob is never lonely. He can 
wheel his chair about the room and feed his 
goldfish and pussy, and water his plants, 
and sometimes Muffin, the kitten, rides 
around with him. Then he loves to read, 
and every Saturday afternoon the children 
who live in the rooms near by go in and sit 
on the floor, and he reads to them or tells 
them stories. I used to take him riding 
in the car, and how he enjoyed it! but the 
jarring made the pain in his back so much 
worse that we had to give that up.” 

The Art Institute was soon reached and 
the girls went to their classes. Adele and 
Gertrude found that they were to write a 


248 


ADELE DORING 


composition on whatever had most im- 
pressed them that morning. They were 
glad to do this, although neither had any 
expectation of winning the high marks, 
and so, on the following Saturday, they 
were indeed surprised when the teacher, 
Miss Fenton, said, “The best composition 
for last week was written by our newest 
pupil, Miss Gertrude Willis.” And then, 
before that astonished girl could fully 
grasp this surprising announcement, the 
teacher was saying in her kindly way, “It 
is our custom to have the best composition 
read aloud each week, and so, Miss Willis, 
will you please come forward and read 
yours ? ’ ’ 

Gertrude, self-possessed by nature, soon 
quieted the tumult in her heart, and, step- 
ping to the platform, she took the composi- 
tion which Miss Fenton handed to her, and 
then, in her clear, sweet voice, she read : 

“The King's Highway 

“Once upon a time there was a great 
city, and in the lower part of it there were 


THE KING’S HIGHWAY 


249 


narrow streets, with ragged children play- 
ing in the gutters, and loafers standing on 
the corners. If there ever had been hope 
in their hearts it had long since fled. And 
many of the mothers were shut in shops 
where they toiled all day and earned very 
little, that they might feed their children. 

“The sun never seemed to shine in the 
lower part of that great city. The fog 
hung gray and dismal, and there was con- 
stantly the sharp clanging noise of traffic. 
The children in the gutter did not seem to 
mind, for they knew no different, but one 
day an artist was forced, through poverty, 
to move to this lower end of the city, and 
with him was his little daughter, Alicia. 
Her startled blue eyes looked about, and 
she clung to her father’s hand as they 
wended their way down one of the narrow 
streets. 

“ ‘Must we live here, father!’ she asked, 
and the artist sadly bowed his head. 

“Alicia tried to make the barren room 
in the tenement look as home-like as pos- 
sible, but she dreaded going to the corner 
store to buy even the few provisions that 
were needed. 

‘ ‘ She shrank from touching the raggedly 
dressed children, who, attracted by her 
golden hair, would leave their play when 
she passed and whisper, ‘Pretty! Pretty!’ 

“But Alicia paid no heed. Her one 
thought was how sorry she was for herself. 


250 


ADELE DORING 


If only she could live again in that lovely 
home which they had lost. 

“ All of her life she had lived in a beau- 
tiful garden, where high ivy-covered walls 
had sheltered her from the winds, where a 
fountain had sparkled for her, and where 
the birds had sung to her. But now, — 
The sensitive child looked about her and 
shuddered. 

‘ ‘ One day her father brought her a book, 
and while she was alone she read the stories 
it contained, and one of them was called 
4 The King’s Highway.’ Alicia fell to day- 
dreaming, as was her wont, and she thought 
how wonderful it would be, this King’s 
Highway. There would be castles on either 
side, and the pavement would be of gold. 
Gorgeous carriages, drawn by milk-white 
horses, would be passing up and down, and 
in them would be princesses and noble 
ladies, richly dressed, and they would have 
pages with plumed hats to attend them. 
As she thought of all this, and wished that 
she might be on the King’s Highway, she 
fell asleep and dreamed, and in her dream 
an angel came to her and said, ‘Alicia, the 
King is your Heavenly Father, and to-day 
you are living on the King’s Highway.’ 

“Alicia, awakening, sprang up, and, see- 
ing that it was late, she went out to do her 
marketing. The fog had not lifted all day. 
The children on the curb seemed weary and 
tired of their play. Many of their faces 


THE KING’S HIGHWAY 


251 


looked pinched, as though they did not have 
enough to eat. 4 And so this is the King’s 
Highway,’ Alicia thought, 4 and these are 
the King’s children.’ And then the angel 
that was always with Alicia whispered, 
‘And what are you doing on the King’s 
Highway ? ’ 

“ ‘Nothing,’ Alicia replied, ‘only to be 
sorry for myself because I am there.’ 

“And then, to the surprise of the ragged 
children, the pretty Alicia went over and 
sat on the curb in their midst, and, putting 
her arms about those nearest, she said, 
‘Little ones, do you like stories?’ ‘What 
are stories?’ one small boy asked, nestling 
close to her. ‘I will tell you,’ Alicia re- 
plied, and soon she was repeating a fairy- 
tale that they could all understand. 

“From that day Alicia was very happy. 
She was never lonely because she was kept 
so busy making others happy on the King’s 
Highway. ’ ’ 


CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE 


SCHOOL-DAYS AGAIN 

The long vacation was over, and on Mon- 
day morning the Sunny Seven met once 
more under the elm-tree in the school-yard. 

4 ‘Oh, I’m so glad that school is going to 
begin again, ’ ’ exclaimed the impulsive 
Betty Burd. 

“Why, Betty?” Gertrude Willis laugh- 
ingly inquired. “I didn’t know that you 
had such a thirst for knowledge.” 

“Well, neither have I,” Betty confessed. 
“But somehow, during the vacation we all 
have so many things to do, we seven girls 
don’t see each other as often as we 
do in school-days. Why, just think! We 
haven’t been to our Secret Sanctum in ages, 
and we were so wild about it in the be- 
ginning. ’ ’ 


252 


SCHOOL-DAYS AGAIN 


253 


“I’ll tell you what!” exclaimed Adele. 
“Let’s go over there this afternoon and 
take our supper and have a good old-fash- 
ioned visit. This being the first day of 
school, we may not be kept in long. ’ ’ 

“Oh, let’s!” cried Doris Drexel, who, 
with her mother, had spent July and 
August at a seaside resort. “I’m just 
pining to see the meadows again. I’ve 
been away so long.” 

“I suppose the cabin will be full of 
spiders,” said Rosie with a shudder. 

“I’ll go ahead,” laughed Adele, “and 
ask them to please roll up their webs and 
move out into the meadows. ’ ’ 

Then, as the last bell was ringing, the 
girls trooped into the school. They were 
all eager to know who their new teacher 
would be, and all sad because they were 
losing Miss Donovan. They had heard 
that some changes had been made, and that 
the teacher who formerly had Seven B had 
been sent to another town. 

“I just can’t wait to get to the room, to 


254 


ADELE DORING 


see who our teacher is to be,” Betty whis- 
pered, as the seven girls hurried up the 
stairs. The door of the seventh grade was 
standing open, and Betty was the first to 
enter. She gave a joyous cry as fche danced 
in. The other girls, closely following, saw 
Betty throw her arms about the teacher, 
whose back was toward them. 

“Why, it’s Miss Donovan!” Adele cried 
in delight. ‘ ‘ Oh, are you to be our teacher 
again this year? That would be too good 
to be true.” 

“Yes, I’ve been promoted with my 
girls,” laughed the young teacher, “and 
I ’m glad that you ’re glad. ’ ’ 

It touched her heart to find how much 
the seven girls really loved her, and she 
planned to make this new year as happy 
and as profitable for them as she could. 

“Now, girls,” she said, “since I know 
that you can be trusted to keep the rules, 
you may choose seats wherever you wish.” 

“May we all sit in this window-corner 
together?” Doris asked. And when the 


SCHOOL-DAYS AGAIN 


255 


permission was given, they chose seats and 
stowed away their books. 

“It will not be necessary for yon girls to 
remain to-day, ’ ’ Miss Donovan said. “ I ’ll 
give you your home-work and then you may 
go, but be back to-morrow morning at nine, 
ready for a term of hard study.’ ’ 

“We will, indeed,” Adele assured her. 
“We are going to try to be perfect all 
through the year.” 

“We, Adele?” Betty Burd inquired. 

“Yes, we,” Adele replied. And Miss 
Donovan laughingly exclaimed, “That’s 
right, hitch your wagon to a star. ’ ’ 

That afternoon the girls met early at the 
cross-roads and wended their way over the 
meadows, which, in the bright September 
weather, were purple and yellow with 
golden-rod and wild aster. In the woods 
beyond were maple trees, flaunting in the 
sunlight their brightly colored leaves. 

“I love the autumn days,” Adele said, 
as she danced along. “It doesn’t make me 
feel the least bit sad to see the leaves fall 


256 


ADELE DORING 


and the flowers fade, because I know that 
they are all coming back in the spring. 
The plants and trees have to sleep, as we 
do, I suppose.” 

Soon they reached the long-neglected 
Secret Sanctum. Peggy Pierce found the 
key and the door swung open. 

4 ‘Oh, isn’t it pretty and homey!” Doris 
Drexel exclaimed. “It’s so long since I’ve 
been here, I had almost forgotten how very 
nice it is.” 

Bertha threw open the little high-up win- 
dow and a merry breeze danced in. 

Rosamond, still on the threshold, called, 
“Will somebody please look for spiders ?” 

Betty Burd seized the broom, and, danc- 
ing around the room, poked it up in the 
ceiling-corners, for the cabin had a low and 
almost flat roof. 

Peggy Pierce, just for mischief, looked 
under the bed-couch and Doris Drexel 
peered in the china-closet. 

“Nary a spider here, fair Rosamond,” 
she called. “You may safely enter.” 


SCHOOL-DAYS AGAIN 


257 


“I know that yon girls think I’m a 
dreadful scare-cat/ * Rosamond declared. 
“But I just can’t help being afraid of 
things.” 

“You’ll get over it,” Adele said kindly, 
“when you find that nothing hurts you. 
Now every one be seated and we will have 
the secretary read the minutes of the last 
meeting. ’ ’ 

Hats were tossed on the rustic couch, 
lunch-boxes stacked in a corner, and the 
seven girls sat tailor-wise on the floor. 

“I deeply regret to have to inform you, 
Madam President,” Gertrude began with 
solemn dignity, “that your secretary for- 
got to bring the book, but she remembers 
that at the last meeting it was unanimously 
resolved that the Sunnyside Club should, 
singly and all together, do at least one kind 
deed a week. Has this resolve been car- 
ried out?” 

“Dear me, no, I’m afraid not,” Adele 
said. “Fixing up the play-house for the 
orphan babies was the last kind deed on 


258 


ADELE DORING 


the records, and the credit for that belongs 
to Betty Bnrd. ” 

“Not at all ! ’ ? Betty protested. “That 
was the whole club ’s kind deed. ’ ’ 

“And how the kiddies are enjoying their 
play-house !” Gertrude declared. “I went 
over there last Sunday to read to them, and 
twenty happier babies it would be hard to 
find. ’ ’ 

“Good!” Adele exclaimed. “Now the 
question before the house is, What kind 
deed shall the Sunnyside Club do next?” 

“You tell us,” Gertrude Willis said. 
“Adele, I just know that you have a sug- 
gestion to make.” 

“Well, then, I have,” Adele confessed. 
“Last week, when I was over visiting with 
dear old Granny Dorset, I was telling her 
about one of our parties, and she said, 
rather wistfully, ‘ Parties are just for the 
young folks, aren’t they, Della? And yet, 
I do believe that I would enjoy a party 
more now than I ever did, but I guess I’ve 
been to my last.’ And then she sighed, 


SCHOOLDAYS AGAIN 


259 


which was so unlike cheerful Granny Dor- 
set, that I decided right then and there to 
give a party for her, and I want you all to 
help. Will you?” 

“Will we?” Bertha Angel exclaimed. 
“Indeed we will ! I think it is so sad when 
the grandmothers are kept away by them- 
selves and are not invited to share in the 
good times. My dear old grandma told me 
that at eighty her heart felt as young as it 
ever had, and that she enjoyed having a 
pretty new dress as much as she did when 
she was sixteen.” 

“Oh, yes, and that’s another thing,” 
Adele said. ‘ ‘ Granny Dorset told me that 
she would have a seventieth birthday one 
week from Saturday, and I asked, ‘Granny, 
if you could have just what you wish for a 
birthday present, what would it be ? ’ And, 
girls, you never could guess what she re- 
plied, not in a thousand years.” 

“Well, then, we might as well give up 
first as last,” Peggy Pierce declared. 

“Indeed you might,” Adele laughed. 


260 


ADELE DORING 


“I’m sure I never would have guessed it. 
Granny Dorset said that the dearest desire 
of her heart for the past ten years had been 
to possess a purple silk dress with lace in 
the neck and sleeves.” 

“And she hasn’t been able to have it, of 
course,” Gertrude declared. “They be- 
long to our church, and father calls there, 
and he said that the son-in-law is rather 
shiftless and the daughter has to scrimp in 
every way to provide for her own three 
children and Granny Dorset, but she is 
so proud that she won’t accept a bit of 
help. ” 

“Well,” Adele continued, “I thought 
that we would find out what other old 
people are still living in Sunnyside, who 
were young when Granny Dorset was, and 
then we’d invite them to a surprise birth- 
day-party for her, and if we have money 
enough in the bank, we might buy her the 
purple silk dress.” 

“Alas and alack!” Bertha exclaimed. 
“The bank is quite empty. Nothing has 


SCHOOL-DAYS AGAIN 


261 


been put into it since we bought the pres- 
ents for the orphans.” 

“I’ll tell you what!” Peggy Pierce ex- 
claimed. 4 ‘Let’s start an account at the 
Bee Hive. Dad will be glad to do it for us, 
and we can buy the purple silk at cost. 
Miss Meadly, who does our sewing, will 
make the dress for us and wait for her pay 
until we have the money. ’ ’ 

“And as for the lace,” Rosamond 
Wright exclaimed, “my mother has ever 
and ever so much of it, and I know she will 
gladly donate enough for the neck and 
sleeves.” 

“I hate to go in debt,” Adele said 
thoughtfully, “but we surely will find a 
way to earn money soon, and I do so want 
Granny Dorset to have the purple silk 
dress on her birthday.” 

“We might do it just this once,” said 
the practical Bertha, “and then as soon as 
the party is over we must scurry around 
and find some way to earn money. We 
simply must not stay in debt.” 


262 


ADELE DORING 


“We might give a play or something,’’ 
Betty Burd suggested. 

“Now,” said President Adele, “who 
would like to be on a committee to find out 
from Granny Dorset which of the old 
people who are to-day living in Sunnyside 
were young when she was?” 

“I suggest that Adele Doring and Ger- 
trude Willis be appointed on that commit- 
tee,” Rosamond drawled. 

“Very well, we will accept, won’t we, 
Gertrude?” Adele asked brightly. And 
when Gertrude had agreed, the president 
added, “And I would like to nominate 
Peggy Pierce and Rosamond Wright as a 
committee of two to see that the purple silk 
dress is made, and that there is lace in the 
neck and sleeves.” 

“But you will all have to help pick out 
the color and the pattern,” Peggy pro- 
tested, and to this the others agreed. 

“I am glad that we have two weeks to 
prepare,” Adele said, “because, now that 
school has begun, we will not want to neg- 


SCHOOLDAYS AGAIN 


263 


lect our studies, and it will take two weeks 
to have the dress made and — ” 

“But Adele,” Bertha exclaimed, “we 
haven’t decided where to hold the party.” 

“We might have it here,” Adele said 
thoughtfully. “But don’t let’s decide that 
yet. And now let’s go for a tramp to the 
orphanage and invite Eva and Amanda to 
come over here and share our picnic sup- 
per. ’ ’ 

This was done, and the orphans were so 
happy and so grateful that the seven could 
not but feel that their Sunny side Club was 
fulfilling its mission by bringing so much 
joy into the lonely lives of these two girls. 


I 


CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR 

THE HOUSE BY THE WOOD 

The following afternoon Adele Doring 
and Gertrude Willis, hand in hand, skipped 
along Cherry Lane on their way to Granny 
Dorset’s. The leaves on the trees were 
yellow, and fluttered down on them as they 
passed. Dear Granny Dorset, who had not 
walked for many a year, was sitting on the 
sunny front porch in her pillowed chair. 
She looked up brightly as the girls opened 
the gate, calling gayly, “Here come my 
little Sunshine Maidens. What good news 
have you to-day ?” 

Granny Dorset’s own middle-aged 
daughter was so busy with housekeeping 
and making ends meet that she seldom 
knew what happened in the village of Sun- 
nyside, and so these girls often hunted up 


264 


THE HOUSE BY THE WOOD 265 

bits of happy gossip to take to the little 
old lady. 

Sitting on the edge of the porch, Ger- 
trude replied, “Oh, Granny Dorset, did 
you know that Jane Dally has the darling- 
est new baby ? It was christened last 
Sunday, and when father held it in his 
arms, it smiled up at him, and it has the 
sweetest dimple. Old Grandfather Dally 
stood up with it, and how his face did shine 
with pride and happiness! ” 

“ ’Lijah Dally a grandad again !” the 
old lady said brightly. “Well, to think of 
that now. He and I were children together. 
Della, his dad was one of your grandpa’s 
sheep-herders, and when he was a little 
fellow he lived in that cabin over in the 
meadows. ” 

“Oh, Granny, did he really?” Adele 
asked eagerly. 

This indeed was the object of the girls’ 
visit, to find out what other old people, now 
living in the village, had been young when 
Granny Dorset was a girl, so that they 


266 


ADELE DORING 


might invite them to Granny’s surprise- 
party. 

Then Gertrude asked a direct question: 
“Is there any one else living around here 
who was young when you were?” 

“Not so many now,” the old lady replied 
thoughtfully. 4 4 Some have moved away 
and some have gone to the better country, 
but there’s old Mr. and Mrs. Quigley, — 
they as had to go to the poorhouse when 
their cabin burned down. They had lived 
in it for nigh forty year, and they always 
did for others when they had it, but when 
they needed help themselves, folks let them 
go on the county.” 

“Oh, how sad!” Adele exclaimed. 
“Why couldn’t some one have given them 
a cabin to live in for the few years that 
are left?” 

“Well, nobody did,” Granny replied. 
“And then there’s Sally Grackle. She 
lives all by herself, out on the edge of the 
woods. It’s strange how people change! 
Sally was such a jolly girl and everybody 


THE HOUSE BY THE WOOD 267 


liked her, but she had a sorrow, which, like 
as not, made her queer-actin’, the way she 
is now. She’s shut herself up, and I’ve 
heard tell that she won’t see anybody. 
That’s all the folks living around here now 
who were young when I was.” 

Half an hour later, when the two girls 
were slowly wending their way homeward, 
Gertrude said, “Not a very promising 
party, Della, judging by the guests. Poor 
Miss Grackle, not quite in her right mind, 
and Mr. and Mrs. Quigley out at the poor- 
house. Luckily Grandpa Dally is a host in 
himself. He’s jolly and brimful of stories, 
so perhaps our party will be a success if 
we can get the guests to agree to come to 
it.” 

The next morning the Sunny Seven met 
under the elm-tree in the school-yard to 
report progress. When the other five had 
heard of the visit to Granny Dorset, Betty 
Burd exclaimed, “That terrible Miss 
Grackle! You needn’t appoint me on a 
committee to go and invite her. I know 


268 


ADELE DORING 


some church ladies who went there once 
and she chased them away with a broom. ’ ’ 

“Poor thing !” Adele said. “She must 
be very unhappy, living there all alone by 
that desolate wood. Gertrude and I will 
gladly go and invite Miss Grackle to the 
party. ’ ’ 

That very afternoon they started out to- 
ward the woods at the north edge of the 
village. The houses were scattered, and at 
last the girls turned into a path which led 
through a swampy meadow. They had to 
pick their way carefully, to keep from get- 
ting their feet wet. Their destination was 
a weather-beaten, gray house, which looked 
as though it was about to tumble down, 
standing in the deep shade of two large 
pines. It was a cloudy day and the wind 
moaned dismally through the trees. There 
was no sign of life about the place. The 
seldom-used gate creaked as it swung open 
on rusty hinges. 

“I suppose that at any minute Miss 
Grackle may rush out at us with a broom,” 


THE HOUSE BY THE WOOD 269 


Gertrude whispered. “Do you feel at all 
afraid, Adele?” 

“No,” the other girl replied, as they 
steadily advanced toward the house. The 
porch, which was broken in places, was lit- 
tered with leaves. 

“Miss Grackle doesn’t use her broom to 
sweep with, I judge,” Gertrude said softly. 

Adele rapped bravely, but no one an- 
swered. Then she turned the knob and the 
door opened. The room which they en- 
tered was dark, cheerless, and damp. At 
first, they could scarcely see, and so they 
stood still. When they had become accus- 
tomed to the dim light, the girls saw a large, 
old-fashioned bed, and in it lay an elderly 
woman with a pinched, gray face. 

4 ‘ Oh, Miss Grackle ! ’ ’ Adele said, hurry- 
ing to the bedside. “You are ill and all 
alone here ! ’ ’ 

“Well, what if I am?” the old woman 
replied tartly. “It’s nobody’s business 
and nobody cares.” 

“If we made a fire in the stove, it would 


270 


ADELE DORING 


take the chill from the room,” Gertrude 
suggested kindly. 

“ Maybe so, like as not,” the old woman 
agreed. “But where’s the wood?” 

“I’ll bring some in,” Gertrude replied. 
“I saw some fallen branches near by.” 

So saying, Gertrude went out and quickly 
returned with an armful of dry wood, and 
soon a fire snapped and crackled cheerfully 
in the stove. 

“And now I’ll make you some broth,” 
said Adele. 

“You’ll be smart if you do,” Miss 
Grackle replied. “What are you planning 
to make it out of?” 

“Why, Miss Grackle!” Adele exclaimed 
when she found the cupboards bare. 
“Haven’t you had anything to eat?” 

“Not a sumptuous banquet,” the old 
woman replied in a non-committal manner. 

Now Adele ’s father had said only that 
very morning that Miss Grackle had plenty 
of money, so Adele decided that she had 
just been too ill to order things. 


THE HOUSE BY THE WOOD 271 


4 ‘I’ll be back in a minute ,’ 9 the girl said 
aloud, and away she went, leaving the won- 
dering Gertrude to care for the invalid. 

A woman who often came to the Doring 
home to help Kate with the cleaning lived 
in the house nearest, on the main road, and 
from her Adele procured some lamb broth 
and bread. Miss Grackle, truly faint from 
hunger, could not resist the fragrance of 
the broth which Adele was heating, and she 
rather ungraciously permitted Gertrude to 
prop her up with the pillows, while Adele 
brought to her a bowl of the steaming broth 
and some fresh bread and butter. 

When this was eaten Miss Grackle 
seemed stronger. She looked at the girls 
curiously. 

“Young ladies,” she said, “perhaps you 
do not know it, but you are the first two 
human beings who have succeeded in cross- 
ing my threshold in ten years. Now, pray 
tell me, what did you come for? You must 
have a reason.” 

“We came to invite you to a surprise 


272 


ADELE DORING 


birthday-party which we are going to give 
for Granny Dorset,” Adele said simply. 

The girls, watching the old lady, were 
surprised to see a twinkle appear in the 
gray eyes. 

‘ 4 Well,” she declared, “I had decided to 
die, but now I do believe that I will live a 
while longer; and, thank you kindly, I’ll 
come to the party.” 

Before they left, Miss Grackle gave the 
girls some money and asked them to order 
some groceries for her at the store. 

4 4 And be sure to tell that boy to leave the 
things just inside the gate the way he 
always does.” 

The next morning, under the elm-tree, 
the five other girls listened with ever- 
widening eyes, as Adele and Gertrude told 
of their visit to Miss Grackle. 

‘ 4 Well, you surely are the two bravest 
girls I ever met,” Rosamond Wright de- 
clared, and the others fully agreed with 
her. 

i ‘The visit we are going to make this 


THE HOUSE BY THE WOOD 273 


afternoon , ’ 9 Gertrude replied, “will be 
harder still. I almost dread calling on 
those two old people, who are so unhappy 
because they have to live in the poor- 
house/ ’ 

But a pleasant surprise awaited the 
girls. 


CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE 


A VISIT TO THE POORHOUSE 

That afternoon Adele and Gertrude 
drove to the poorhouse, which was two 
miles out on the east road. Leaving Fire- 
fly hitched at the gate, they wrnlked up the 
gravel path, on either side of which was a 
narrow garden, bright with autumn flow- 
ers. Tall maples stood about on the lawn, 
and their leaves were red and yellow. The 
afternoon sun was warm, and many old 
ladies, wrapped in shawls, were seated here 
and there on rustic benches. 

‘ i Everything seems cheerful,’ ’ Adele 
said. “I wonder where we shall find Mrs. 
Quigley.” 

They made inquiry of a woman who was 
coming down the walk. 

“I’m Mrs. Quigley!” was the cheerful 


274 


A VISIT TO THE POORHOUSE 275 

reply, and the old lady led them to a bench 
near by. “I don’t know yon, do I?” she 
asked kindly. 

The girls were indeed relieved, for they 
had both feared that they were to meet a 
grief-stricken old lady. They were not old 
enongh to know that many a bright face 
hides an aching heart, and the wrinkled 
face smiling np at them surely tried to be 
bright. 

When Adele told their errand, Mrs. 
Quigley exclaimed, “Well, now, won’t Pa 
Quigley be pleased! It’s a long time since 
we were asked to a party. ’ ’ Then, turning 
to Adele, she took her hands and said: 
“And so you’re Daniel Doring’s grand- 
daughter. Daniel was mighty good to my 
man and me, and he ’d be sorry if he knew 
that we had lost our little home. But 
there — ” she smiled quickly through her 
tears. “I tell Pa Quigley, when he’s wish- 
ing we had our little home once more, where 
we could sit by the fireplace evenings, like 
we used to love to do, — I tell him that we 


276 


ADELE DORING 


must count our blessin’s. Things might be 
worse. One of us might be dead, and then 
how lonely the other of us would be ! ’ ’ 

“ That’s true,” Adele said as she arose, 
and then, stooping, she impulsively kissed 
the wrinkled cheeks as she added, “Mrs. 
Quigley, you belong to our Sunnyside Club, 
don ’t you ? * ’ 

“Maybe so,” said the little old lady, 
rising. “Once I read somewhere, ‘ Every 
cloud has a silver lining; let’s wear our 
clouds with the linings on the outside.’ I 
try to do that. It makes it pleasanter for 
other folks, and I don’t know but it’s cheer- 
ier even for the person who is wearing the 
cloud. ’ ’ 

“I’m going to remember that,” Ger- 
trude said as she pressed the wrinkled hand 
which she held. Then Adele exclaimed, 
“Now, Mrs. Quigley, a week from Saturday 
we’ll call for you at two, so you be ready 
and watching. ’ ’ 

When the girls were driving down the 
country road, Adele exclaimed earnestly, 


A VISIT TO THE POORHOUSE 277 


“ Gertrude, those Quigleys are going to 
have a home together if it lies within my 
power to get it.” 

“ Isn’t it queer, Adele,” the other re- 
marked reflectively, “how different people 
are. There are some women who have 
everything that money can buy, and yet 
they are discontented and fretful. If they 
could have heard dear old Mrs. Quigley 
just now, it might have done them more 
good than a whole book full of sermons.” 

They were driving along a pleasant 
street in the village, and Adele soon drew 
rein in front of a neat white cottage with 
green blinds. “There is Grandfather 
Dally under the apple-tree, ’ ’ she remarked 
as she hitched Firefly to a post. 

“Well! Well!” the old man exclaimed, 
as he peered over his spectacles at the two 
girls. “If it ain’t Tudy and Dellie! 
’Taint often I have a call from two nice 
little girls, but there, more’n likely you’ve 
come to call on my daughter, but she’s out 
somewheres, a-wheelin’ the baby.” 


278 


ADELE DORING 


The girls assured him that they had 
called on purpose to see him, as they wished 
to invite him to a party. The old man was 
as pleased as a hoy when he heard this. 
Then he added with a chuckle, “I’ve heerd 
that you little girls have turned the cabin 
out in the meadows into a sort of a play- 
house. Ain’t you sheered that the miser’ll 
come back some time and ketch you there? ’ ’ 

“Miser!” Adele and Gertrude exclaimed 
in one breath. “What miser, Grandpa 
Dally? We never heard of one!” 

“Hum, now, you don’t say! I thought 
like as not everybody had heerd tell of him. 
It was after the sheep-raisin’ business had 
been given up in these parts, and there 
wa’n’t no one a-livin’ in the cabin at that 
time. Your grandpa, Della, had locked it 
up and kept the key. Well, one day a long, 
lank man from nobody knew where ap- 
peared in these parts, and asked ole Daniel 
Doring if he might rent that cabin for a 
spell. Your grandad was for givin’ the 
under fellow a chance, and this stranger 


A VISIT TO THE POORHOUSE 279 


said he was here to recuperate his health 
or some such, and so he got the key and 
was told he could live there as long as he 
chose and welcome. 

“The man stayed pretty close to the 
cabin, and the folks in town was puzzled 
about him, and so one night two of the 
boys went out there and they clum up the 
side of the cabin somehow, and peeked in 
at that little high window, and Josh Per- 
kins said afterwards that he almost fell 
down agin, when he saw what was a-goin’ 
on inside of that cabin. There sat the long, 
lank man at the table, and in the candle- 
light he was a-countin’ out gold pieces. 
Josh said he had a bag full of them. People 
were suspicious, of course, when they heerd 
that, and the very next day the sheriff went 
out to the cabin, and what do you think! 
The place was empty. Like as not the 
miser had heerd the boys prowlin’ about 
in the night, and he left for parts unknown 
and took his gold with him, I suppose, 
though nobody knows as to that, for your 


280 


ADELE DORING 


grandad, Della, locked the cabin right up 
then and kept the key. ’ * 

Half an hour later the girls were again 
driving down the road. ‘ 4 What a strange, 
uncanny story that was about the miser ! ’ ’ 
Gertrude said with a shudder. 

4 ‘Rosamond has always said that the 
furniture in the cabin would probably tell 
queer stories if it could talk,” Adele re- 
marked. And then she added suddenly, 
“Oh, Gertrude! Don’t you wish that we 
could find that gold, and then we could take 
care of the Quigleys ! ’ ’ 

Gertrude laughed. “If he was a miser, 
he certainly took his gold with him. ’ ’ Then 
she asked, “Della, did you ever hear what 
Miss Grackle’s great sorrow was, the one 
that made her turn against every one and 
live all alone by herself in that dismal house 
by the woods!” 

“Yes,” Adele replied. “Father was 
telling mother about it last night. He said 
that when he was a boy, Miss Grackle and 
a younger sister lived in that big, rambling 


A VISIT TO THE POORHOUSE 281 


house on the Dickerson Road, the one that 
has been boarded up for so many years. 
The sister’s name was Miranda, and she 
was about ten years younger than Sally, 
and very pretty, but father said she was 
nowhere near as capable. They lived 
together very happily after their father 
died. Sally did all of the housework and 
waited on Miranda hand and foot, as the 
saying goes, and the younger one, who was 
rather selfish, accepted it as her due. 
They owned the house and land together, 
but they each had plenty of money besides. 
Then one day a stranger appeared in town, 
and, having heard that the pretty Miranda 
Grackle had a fortune in her own right, he 
began to court her. Miss Sally quickly saw 
that he was a mere adventurer, trying to 
marry some one with money, and she 
begged Miranda to give him up, but she 
wouldn ’t, and then one night they ran away 
and were secretly married. Miss Sally was 
heartbroken. She heard that they had 
gone to Arizona, where the man had mines. 


282 


ADELE DORING 


She followed them there, but never found 
them. She came back a broken-hearted 
woman, boarded up the old homestead 
where she had been so happy, and then 
went to live all alone in that house out by 
the woods.’ ’ 

“Poor Miss Grackle!” Gertrude said. 
“Here we are by the Dickerson Road, 
Adele. Would it be much out of our way 
to drive past the boarded-up house? I 
never happened to notice it.” 

“No,” Adele replied, as she turned the 
pony’s head in that direction. “The house 
is just beyond that clump of trees.” 

When the little grove was passed, the 
girls gave an exclamation of surprise. 
“Why, it isn’t boarded up at all,” Ger- 
trude said. “See, even the windows are 
open.” 

“And if there isn’t Miss Grackle her- 
self,” Adele cried, as a tall, elderly woman 
appeared in the doorway to shake a dust- 
cloth. She had on a big apron, with a towel 
about her head. 


A VISIT TO THE POORHOUSE 283 


Adele drew rein and fairly flew up the 
walk, Gertrude following her. 

‘ 6 Oh, Miss Grackle ! ’ ’ Adele cried. ‘ i 1 ’m 
so glad to see that you are well again. And 
have you really and truly moved over 
here?” 

Somehow Miss Grackle did not seem to 
be old, like Granny Dorset, and, for that 
matter, she was several years the younger. 

Upon hearing her name called, the woman 
turned and welcomed the girls gladly. 
“Yes,” she said, and there was almost a 
quiver in her voice. “For years it has 
seemed as though I just couldn’t come back 
here without sister Miranda, and when she 
never even wrote to me, I turned bitter 
against everybody, but when you little 
girls came the other day and showed me 
that there was love and kindness in the 
world, I decided to live a while longer and 
see if I couldn’t do a bit of good. I’m 
going to try to really live now. I’ve been 
buried long enough.” 

“Oh, Miss Grackle,” Adele cried, “I’m 


284 


ADELE BORING 


so glad ! So glad ! And what a nice place 
this is! Yon had beautiful grounds once, 
didn’t you?” 

The lady nodded. 44 Father was proud 
of his lawns and gardens, ’ ’ she said. 4 4 You 
see that little cottage on the edge of the 
grove. Father’s gardener lived there, and 
his wife helped mother in the kitchen, for 
there were three children of us then, — I 
had a brother who died, — and there was 
work enough to do.” 

4 ‘It’s a pretty little cottage,” Adele said. 
4 4 Has it been empty all these years?” 

4 4 Yes,” Miss Grackle replied. 44 I would 
like to have a couple living in it now, 
if the man would attend to my grounds in 
exchange for the rent.” 

With a cry of joy Adele threw her arms 
about the astonished woman as she ex- 
claimed, 4 4 Would you really, truly, Miss 
Grackle? Oh, Gertrude, wouldn’t it be just 
the nicest place for the Quigleys?” 

4 4 Why, what has happened to the Quig- 
leys ? ’ ’ Miss Grackle asked in surprise. 4 4 1 


A VISIT TO THE POORHOUSE 285 


thought that they had a small farm of their 
own. Did they lose it! You see, I haven’t 
heard a bit of news in years.” 

Then Adele told the whole story, and 
Miss Grackle indignantly exclaimed : “That 
shows the ingratitude of people! There 
never was a sick child in the country round 
but that Mrs. Quigley was there to help the 
tired mother care for it, and never a tramp 
passed her door but that she made him a 
cup of tea and gave him a bite to eat, and 
talked to him all the time in that bright, 
cheerful way of hers ; and some of them, I 
know, took to honest work after that, and 
they said that it was just because of her. 
And the town let the Quigleys go to the 
poorhouse ! Well, they’ll not stay there ! At 
least they can live in the cottage, and per- 
haps in the spring Mr. Quigley could work 
the garden on shares.” Then she added 
simply, “My income is not as large as it 
was, Adele, and my sister Miranda may 
come home at any time and be in need, so 
I must be saving for her sake. But there, ’ 9 


286 


ADELE DORING 


she added more brightly, 4 ‘the Quigleys 
shall move into the cottage at once, and a 
way to provide for them will surely open 
up.” 

Soon after that two happy girls drove 
away. “Isn’t it just like magic, the way 
things are happening!” Adele exclaimed, 
and Gertrude agreed. The girls were to 
have a strange adventure the next day, as 
you shall hear. 


CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX 

A MYSTERY SOLVED 

After school on Friday the Sunny Seven 
danced over the Buttercup Meadows on 
their way to the cabin. 

u We ought to call it Golden-rod Meadows 
now,” Betty Burd declared. 

‘ ‘ I love the purple asters tangled in with 
the gold!” Gertrude Willis exclaimed. 
“Dame Nature is a wonderful artist.” 

“And the maple wood is so bright and 
red,” Doris Drexel said. “We might have 
Granny Dorset’s party here. Surely, no 
ball-room could be more splendid.” 

As they were talking they approached the 
cabin, and Peggy Pierce, finding the key, 
opened the door. 

“Girls!” Rosamond exclaimed, as she 


287 


288 


ADELE DORING 


peered in. “I almost wish that Grandpa 
Dally had not told us about that miser. It 
makes me feel shuddery to think of him. 
Long and lank, he sat right there at our 
table as he counted out his gold pieces by 
the light of a candle.” 

“Well, he isn’t here now,” said practical 
Bertha, as she entered the cabin and threw 
open the window. 

“Of course he isn’t,” Adele exclaimed. 
< < There ’s no one in our Secret Sanctum but 
just ourselves.” 

The girls, finding it hard to overcome an 
uncanny feeling, nevertheless entered the 
cabin and began to make definite plans for 
the party which they were going to give for 
Granny Dorset, when suddenly there was 
a strange clinking noise in the wall. 

Rosamond sprang to her feet, her eyes 
wide and startled. “What was that?” she 
asked. The other girls stood up and lis- 
tened. They distinctly heard a scurrying 
and then another clinking sound. 

“It must be a chipmunk or a ground- 


A MYSTERY SOLVED 289 

squirrel,” Adele said, trying to speak 
calmly. 

“I would think so myself,” Bertha re- 
plied, “but for the other noise, — the 
clinking. How could a squirrel make 
that ? ’ ’ 

The girls examined the wall, and Ger- 
trude exclaimed, “Why, this seems to be a 
boarded-up fire-place.” 

“Yes, and here is a loose board,” Bertha 
said, “so now the mystery will be ex- 
plained.” 

The bark-covered boards were easily 
pried away and a stone-lined fire-place was 
disclosed. There were wood-ashes on the 
floor of it, but no squirrel, and nothing that 
would clink. 

4 4 Look ! ’ ’ Gertrude said. ‘ ‘ Here is a hole 
through which a squirrel might have gone . 1 1 

Adele peered up the blackened chimney. 
There was a rude stone ledge just above 
her head, and suddenly, with a frightened 
chirr, a chipmunk jumped from the ledge 
to the floor and darted into the meadow 


290 


ADELE DORING 


through the hole which Gertrude had seen. 

The creature’s quick movement had dis- 
lodged something on the shelf and it fell 
clinking against a stone. 

With a cry of amazement Adele stooped 
and picked up a gold piece. 

“ Quick, bring a stool, somebody!” she 
called. “I’ll climb up and see what is on 
that ledge. ’ 9 

“The miser’s gold!” she declared, as 
she handed Bertha a bag. The chipmunk, 
hoping to find nuts, had gnawed a hole 
in it. The girls gathered around were 
scarcely able to believe their eyes. 
“Here’s a piece of brown paper,” Adele 
said, ‘ ‘ and there ’s writing on it ! ” 

The writing in places was very hard to 
read, but at last they made it out, and 
Adele read aloud: 

“To whoever finds this money, I wish to 
say that it wasn’t come by honest. It 
hasn’t brought me any happiness and I 
don’t want it. I’d give it back to the folks 
who own it, if I knew who they was, but I 
don’t. I’m going back to the town where 
I was a boy and I ’m going to live straight. ’ ’ 



“The miser’s gold !’’ — Page 290 

























































A MYSTERY SOLVED 


291 


“Pm so disappointed,’ ’ Adele an- 
nounced. “I thought of the Quigleys at 
once, and how it would help them, but they 
would not want stolen money.” 

“I’ll tell you what,” said Gertrude Wil- 
lis. “Let’s take it to father with the note 
and ask his advice. Perhaps it would help 
to right the wrong if the money were used 
for some good purpose.” 

Half an hour later the girls arrived at 
the neat parsonage. They found the min- 
ister working in his garden, and he lis- 
tened gravely to the story of the miser and 
his bag of gold. 

As Gertrude had anticipated, her father 
said, “Since the money cannot be returned 
to its rightful owners, it surely ought to 
be used in doing good. If I were you, I 
would deposit it in the bank and draw upon 
it as a need arises.” 

Thanking Mr. Willis for his advice, seven 
happy girls went to the bank of which Doris 
Drexel’s father was president. 

Luckily Mr. Drexel was still there, and 


292 


ADELE DORING 


he had the bag emptied and the money 
counted. “One thousand dollars/ ’ he re- 
ported with a smile, “and I believe, little 
lassies, that Mr. Willis has made a wise 
suggestion. ’ ’ 

When the girls left the place a while 
later, Bertha carried a little book which 
stated that she was the treasurer of the 
Sunnyside Club, which had funds to the 
amount of one thousand dollars in the 
First National Bank in the town of 
Sunnyside. 

Next, the seven girls visited Miss 
Grackle, to tell her the story. “We wish 
this money to be used by the Quigleys/ ’ 
Adele said, “but since we do not want them 
to feel that they are receiving charity, 
we wish that you, Miss Grackle, would 
give them a certain amount of it each 
month for taking care of your garden and 
grounds. ’ ’ 

4 ‘ That will be a splendid plan, ’ ’ Miss 
Grackle said brightly. “And now, before 
you go, would you girls like to see the cot- 


A MYSTERY SOLVED 293 

tage in which the Quigleys are to live? I 
have aired it out and made it fresh and 
tidy. ’ ’ 

“We’d love to see it!” Adele exclaimed, 
and so Miss Grackle led the way to the 
little cottage beside the maple grove. 

The three rooms were sunny and bright, 
and the big, old-fashioned stove in the 
kitchen had been freshly blackened. The 
wood-box was filled, for, as Miss Grackle 
explained, she wanted it to look home-like 
as soon as they saw it. In the living-room 
there were two easy-chairs with bright 
patch-work cushions, and in the bed- 
room beyond all was spotlessly clean and 
inviting. 

“I can hardly wait until to-morrow,” 
Betty Burd exclaimed. 

“Nor I,” Gertrude Willis declared. 
“The party was planned to be a surprise 
for Granny Dorset, but think of the joyous 
surprise which is in store for those poor 
Quigleys. They will expect to return to 
the poorhouse after the party, and when 


294 


ADELE DORING 


they find that they are to have a home, oh, 
Adele, won’t they be the happiest old 
people in all the world ! ’ ’ 

6 6 Girls!” Adele cried suddenly. “We 
did plan on having the party out in our 
meadow cabin, but wouldn’t it be much 
nicer to have it right here? That is, of 
course, if you are willing, Miss Grackle.” 

“That is really a first-rate idea!” Miss 
Grackle declared. “And then, instead of 
having a cold chicken supper, we can have 
a warm one.” 

Adele ’s mother, when she heard of the 
change, agreed that it was a splendid plan. 
Kate offered to cook the chickens and 
things in her own kitchen, and then, at the 
last moment, they were to be taken to the 
cottage and kept warm until served. 

When Saturday morning dawned, Adele, 
at an early hour, drove over to the orphan- 
age and readily obtained permission for 
Eva and Amanda to spend the day with 
her. On their way back they gathered 
armfuls of bright red leaves from the 


A MYSTERY SOLVED 


295 


sumac bushes, and graceful stalks of 
golden-rod and purple aster. These they 
took to the cottage where the Quigleys were 
to live, and Adele filled bowls and pitchers 
and set them about everywhere. 

Soon thereafter the other six girls ar- 
rived, and then what a hustling and 
bustling there was ! The living-room table 
was covered with a snowy-white cloth, and 
on it was laid Miss Grackle’s choice old- 
fashioned blue-and-white china and the 
newly polished silver, and in the very 
center was a blue bowl of golden-glow. 

‘ ‘Now, ’ ’ Adele said as she stood back and 
surveyed the scene, “everything is ready 
for the surprise-party and we may rest a 
while from our labors. At two o’clock Bob 
Angel and Gertrude Willis are to go to the 
poorhouse to get the Quigleys, and at two- 
thirty Brother Jack and Eva may go after 
Granny Dorset. I think it would be nice 
to have all of the guests here before she 
arrives.” 

“Here comes an automobile up the drive 


296 


ADELE DORING 


now!” Betty Burd exclaimed. “Who do 
you suppose is in it!” 

“Oh, it’s brother Bob in our car,” Ber- 
tha declared. 

The girls skipped out to the driveway, 
and Bob, leaping to the ground, made a 
deep bow as he said, “Ladies, this is a 
free bus which will gladly convey you to 
your several homes, if you care to entrust 
your lives to my keeping. ’ ’ 

“Oh, good enough!” Peggy Pierce ex- 
claimed. “I was just wishing that I was 
home to help mother get the dinner, and 
now I will be there in a twinkling . 9 9 

“We have our fiery steed,” Adele said, 
“so Eva and Amanda and I will travel in 
my little red cart, but thank you, just the 
same . 9 9 

Then, waving good-bye to smiling Miss 
Grackle, the girls and Bob started down 
the Dickerson Road on their homeward 
way. 

Meanwhile, in the poorhouse, Mrs. Quig- 
ley was hunting in her shabby hair-trunk 


A MYSTERY SOLVED 


297 


for a bit of old-time finery. Little, indeed, 
did she dream of the great joy which was 
so soon to be hers. 


V 


CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN 

A REALLY, TRULY HOME 

Promptly at two o’clock Bob Angel and 
Gertrude Willis arrived at the poorhouse, 
and on a bench near the gate sat the old 
couple. How their faces shone when they 
saw the automobile which was to bear them 
to the party ! 

The old lady in bonnet and shawl, and 
the old man in a well-brushed, though 
threadbare, coat, and hat, frayed at the 
edges, arose as Gertrude went forward to 
greet them. She said afterwards that it 
was hard for her to keep from throwing 
her arms about the dear old lady and 
telling her then and there of the great 
happiness that was in store for them, but, 
instead, she kissed the bright, wrinkled face 
and shook hands with Mr. Quigley, whom 


298 


A REALLY, TRULY HOME 299 


she had never met before. Bob had leaped 
to the ground, and after Gertrude had in- 
troduced him to their guests, he carefully 
helped the old lady to the comfortable back 
seat and the old man to the front. 

Mr. Quigley ’s eyes were shining like a 
boy’s as Bob drove rather slowly down the 
country road. ‘ ‘ Land sakes alive, ma ! ’ ’ he 
called. “ Ain’t this great! Make her go 
faster, boy. We ain’t a mite af eared.” So 
Bob put on a bit more speed, and soon they 
reached the Grackle homestead. 

“Well, I swan!” the old man cried when 
he shook hands with Miss Grackle. “Won- 
ders never will cease, I reckon. If here 
ain’t Sally Grackle herself, lookin’ young- 
er ’n she did when I saw her last.” 

Miss Grackle beamed happily as she 
greeted the Quigleys and led them into the 
cottage. A moment later Grandpa Bally, 
as he insisted that every one should call 
him, arrived in a long-tailed coat which he 
had first worn at his wedding many years 
before. 


300 


ADELE DORING 


4 ‘Well, Della !” he exclaimed when that 
maiden met him at the door. “So the 
party day arrived all right. Bless me, but 
you do look cozy in here! Howdy, Dan 
Quigley! Mighty glad to see you lookin’ 
so pert! Hum, ha!” he added, with twin- 
kling eyes, as the two old ladies appeared 
from the bed-room. “And if these girls 
aren’t Sally Grackle and Betsy Quigley. 
You don’t look a minute older ’n you did in 
them days when we used to have parties 
pretty frequent.” 

Suddenly Adele darted into the living- 
room from the kitchen. ‘ ‘ Everybody hide ! ’ ’ 
she whispered. “Here comes Granny Dor- 
set, and when she gets well settled I will 
say ‘ Ahem, ’ and then you are all to spring 
out and call ‘Happy Birthday! ’ ” 

What a scurrying there was! Grandpa 
Dally hid behind the open door, Mr. Quig- 
ley squeezed himself into a closet, and Mrs. 
Quigley and Miss Grackle went into the 
bed-room. 

Bob and Jack helped Granny Dorset into 


A REALLY, TRULY HOME 


301 


the pleasant living-room, and she looked 
about her in speechless amazement as she 
sank into the comfortable rocker in a sunny 
window. “Well, Della,” she exclaimed, 
“whatever is the meaning of all this?” 

“Ahem,” said the laughing girl, and out 
from their hiding-places sprang the four 
old people, each calling gayly, “Happy 
birthday, Sarie Dorset!” 

The eight girls, watching from the 
kitchen-door, were certainly satisfied with 
the way in which Granny Dorset was sur- 
prised. 

“Oh! Oh!” she said, with tears of joy 
running down her wrinkled cheeks. “It’s 
a party, isn’t it? I never thought I’d live 
to go to another one.” 

Then, when her bonnet and shawl had 
been removed, Adele reappeared from the 
bedroom, carrying a long box. 

“It’s a birthday present for you, Granny 
Dorset,” the girl announced. “And if you 
can guess what’s in it, you may have it.” 

With shining eyes the old lady guessed 


302 


ADELE DORING 


one thing and then another, and then at 
last hesitatingly said, “It couldn’t be a 
dress, could it, Della?” 

“You’ve guessed it!” Adele cried gayly. 
“And now open it up and see what you 
will see!” 

Granny Dorset gave a little cry of joy 
when she beheld the purple silh dress. 
“It’s just what I’ve always wanted,” she 
said; “and there’s lace in the neck and 
sleeves.” Then she added, “Della, being 
as it’s my birthday, I wish I could put it 
on.” 

“And so you shall,” Adele declared. 
Then she and Eva assisted the little old 
lady into the bedroom, whence a little later 
she emerged, dressed in the purple gown, 
and the happiness glowing in that dear old 
face made the girls glad indeed that Adele 
had thought of that particular birthday 
present. 

Then, when the old people were com- 
fortably seated in the easy-chairs, some 
having been brought from the big house, 


A REALLY, TRULY HOME 303 


and the giris, tailor-wise, on the floor, 
Granny Dorset said, “ ’Lijah Dally, being 
as the girls have turned that sheep-herder ’s 
cabin into a playhouse, why don’t you tell 
them something that happened round there 
when you was a boy?” 

Grandpa Dally looked pleased to be 
called upon to entertain the company. “I 
would, Sarie,” he replied, “but just this 
minute I don’t seem to think of nothing.” 
- ‘ ‘ Suppose you tell ’em how you met the 
wolves,” Mr. Quigley suggested. 

“Oh, Grandpa Dally,” Rosamond cried 
with a shudder. “Did you realty meet 
some wolves once, and didn’t they eat 
you ? ’ ’ 

Every one laughed at Rosie’s question. 
“If they had,” Grandpa Dally replied, “I 
wouldn’t he here to tell you the story. 
Well,” he began, “when I was about 
eight years old, my father and me lived in 
that sheep-herder’s cabin out in the 
meadows. I hadn’t a mother and I sort of 
grew up any way. There was wolves here- 


304 


ADELE DORING 


abouts in them days, and when they got 
real hungry, especially in winter, they came 
prowling around and howling at night. 
Often father and the other herder who lived 
with us would go out with their guns and 
drive them away from the fold. 

“When I was twelve year old, my father 
gave me a gun and taught me how to shoot 
it, and after that I felt very brave and bold. 

“That winter was bitterly cold, and the 
snow was deep, but it was crusted over so 
that we could walk on it. The sheep were 
all in the fold, and at night we often heard 
the wolves howling in the hills. 

“ 4 ’Elijah,’ my father said to me, ‘when- 
ever you go to the store at the crossings be 
sure that you carry your gun. ’ 

“Once a week I went to the store, which 
was two miles away, to get supplies and 
the mail. I wore a fur cap and mittens, 
and I did not mind the cold much. With 
my gun over my shoulder and my snow- 
shoes on my feet I started out one day. I 
only passed one house on the way, and in it 


A REALLY, TRULY HOME 


305 


lived a wood-cutter and his wife and two 
children. As I was a-passin’ by, the 
woman called and asked me if I’d do an 
errand for her at the store. She said her 
man was up to the woods, but she was 
expectin’ him back about nightfall. I said 
I’d do her errand and glad to oblige, and 
then I went on my way. 

“At the store there was some trappers 
just come in from the hills, and they said 
wolves was thick up that ways, and extra 
hungry on account of the deep snow. 
‘Hello, sonny,’ one of them called after me, 
when, with my packages strapped to my 
back, I started to leave the store. ‘You 
ain’t goin’ home all alone, be you? Don’t 
see what yer pa’s thinkin’ of to let ye, with 
wolves around as thick as they be.’ 

“I told him I wasn’t a bit af eared, and 
I hurried out. The first half-mile I skated 
over the hard, crusted snow without a trip, 
but then a strap bust on one of my snow- 
shoes and I had to stop quite a while to fix 
it before I could go on. When I got it 


306 


ADELE DORING 


mended it was growing dark, and I was 
almost afeared to go on, thinking of what 
the trapper had said, but I knew dad would 
be out huntin’ for me if I didn’t turn up, 
so I skated off at a stiff pace. I tried to 
whistle, to sort of cheer me up, but some- 
how I couldn’t, for fear that the wolves 
would hear. 

“I was nearing the woods, when I sud- 
denly saw something which made my blood 
run cold. There was wolf-tracks all around 
in the snow, and they was fresh. I stood 
still, not a-darin’ to go on. I knew I was 
near the woman’s house, but I couldn’t see 
it for the trees. Just as I was wonderin’ 
what to do, I heerd a frightened cry for 
help. It was that woman, I felt sure, 
and with all speed I rounded the edge 
of the wood. The cabin door stood open 
and I saw two wolves a-goin’ in. Without 
thinkin’ what I was to do, I darted to the 
door and fired. One wolf fell at my feet 
with an ugly snarl, but the other turned 
and leaped at me. I struck it with my gun, 


A REALLY, TRULY HOME 307 


but I felt its sharp teeth cuttin’ into my 
arm. Just as I thought it was all over 
with me, a shot rang out from behind, and 
that wolf dropped dead, hit in the heart. 

“It was the wood-cutter. He had been 
a-returnin’, but when he heard my gun he 
came on a run. Then, for the first time, I 
saw the woman and two small children 
crouched in a corner. The woman came 
forward, white from fright, and she took 
my hand as she said in a tremblin’ voice, 
‘ ’Lijah Dally, if I live to be a thousand, I 
can’t do enough to thank you for savin’ my 
babies. The wolves was just about to leap 
on them when you came in and fired, and 
the critters turned on you instead. A min- 
ute more and nothin’ could ’a’ saved them.’ 

“ ‘You are a brave boy,’ the woodsman 
said, but I didn’t feel brave at all. I was 
shakin’ so I ’most couldn’t stand. Just 
then there came a rap on the door. It was 
my dad and one of the sheep-herders, out 
to look for me. Wasn’t I glad to see them, 
though! But I didn’t feel real safe till we 


308 


ADELE DORING 


three was in our log cabin, with the door 
bolted and barred.’ ’ 

“Oh-h!” said Rosamond Wright with a 
shudder. 4 ‘How glad I am there are no 
wolves around the log cabin now ! ’ ’ 

While Grandpa Dally had been telling 
this story there had been a quiet bustling 
in the cottage kitchen, and suddenly the 
door opened and in came Kate and Mrs. 
Doring, bearing the good things to eat. 

Granny Dorset’s chair was drawn up to 
the table and soon the merry feast began. 

“A good old-fashioned chicken dinner,” 
Mrs. Quigley said with appreciation. 
“And pumpkin pie!” Grandpa Dally 
added with a chuckle. 

“It’s a good while since I ate any home 
cookin’,” Mr. Quigley remarked. “I tell 
you, folks, there’s nothin’ like a home, 
whether it’s for cookin’ or just livin’ in,” 
he added wistfully, and every one knew that 
he was thinking of the poorhouse. 

Then Miss Grackle impulsively ex- 
claimed, “Dan Quigley, you seem about as 


A REALLY, TRULY HOME 


309 


strong as ever. I should think that you 
could get gardening to do. ” 

“I’ve tried, Sally, but all the farmers 
say I’m too old,” Mr. Quigley replied. 

“You are too old for hard farming, I 
agree,” Miss Grackle said, “but maybe 
there is some one who has a garden and 
grounds to be cared for, where you could 
work when you felt like it and rest when 
you were tired.” 

4 ‘ I wish there was such a place, ’ ’ the old 
man said sadly, “but there ain’t.” 

“Yes, there is, too,” Miss Grackle ex- 
claimed. “I want this place of mine fixed 
up the way it was when father was alive, 
and I want you and Mrs. Quigley to come 
and live in this cottage and take care of it 
for me.” 

Mrs. Quigley’s eyes were shining. “Pa 
Quigley,” she said, “I always told you 
the dear Lord would send one of His angels 
to deliver us from the poorhouse, if it was 
right that we should be delivered.” 

“And so He has!” Mr. Quigley said in 


310 


ADELE DORING 


a shaking voice. “And Sally Grackle is 
that angel !” 

How Miss Grackle longed to tell them 
that Adele Doring and her six friends were 
really the angels, but she had promised 
Adele that she would not. When at last 
the guests took their departure they left 
the happy old couple in a really, truly home. 


CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT 


THE NEW PUPIL 

The Sunny Seven met under the elm- 
tree in the school-yard the following Mon- 
day, when a strange girl appeared with her 
books under her arm. She was elaborately 
dressed, and each black curl hung in its 
prim and proper place. 

4 ‘ That new girl knows that we ’re watch- 
ing her,” Betty Burd exclaimed, “and 
she’s trying to put on airs. Who is she, 
anyway ? ’ ’ 

“I’m sure I don’t know, and I don’t 
want to,” Rosamond Wright declared. 

“I know who she is,” Doris Drexel said. 
“Her father was an inn-keeper out west 
until a few months ago. He owned a mine 
that never had amounted to much, so he 
told dad. Then one morning he woke up 


311 


312 


ADELE DORING 


and found himself rich. After that his 
wife wanted to come east and live like folks, 
so they came. They have mints of money, 
dad says, and they have bought that beau- 
tiful Restwell estate out on the Lake Road. 
Father was asked there to dinner last 
night. Mother was, also, of course, but she 
declined, but dad is their banker and so he 
had to go. He said that the house is 
luxuriously furnished, but in very poor 
taste. Dad likes Mr. Green, but the wife 
boasts all the time of their great wealth, 
and tells what everything cost. ’ ’ 

“What is the girl’s name!” Adele asked. 
Doris smiled. “Her name used to be 
plain Susie Green, but since they became 
rich, the mother thought Susie too common, 
and so they call her Susetta.” 

‘ ‘ How ridiculous ! ’ ’ Bertha exclaimed. 
“I suppose if my father gets rich, I will 
have to be called Berthetta.” 

“Well, then, let us hope that he never 
will, ’ ’ Doris replied. ‘ ‘ Dad said that poor 
Mr. Green acted like a fish out of water all 


THE NEW PUPIL 


313 


the time. He hardly ate a mouthful at 
dinner, and afterward, when the two men 
were alone, Mr. Green said that he did 
wish they were out west again, where he 
could breathe. He said he felt smothered, 
with so much velvet around. Father was 
real sorry for him. ” 

“Poor little Susie !” Adele said, as the 
last school-bell began to ring. “So much 
money will probably spoil her, but we must 
be kind to her and make her feel that she 
is welcome to our school. ” 

“Oh, Adele, if that isn’t just like you!” 
exclaimed Rosamond Wright. “For my 
part, I shall leave the snippy little thing 
quite alone.” 

At the recreation hour the girls trooped 
again into the school-yard, some romping 
about, and others sauntering in chattering 
groups. Susie Green, with a book in her 
hand, sat alone on the bench under the elm- 
tree. 

Adele, leaving the six, walked over to 
the girl and said pleasantly, “ Good morn- 


314 


ADELE DORING 


ing, Susie. I know that you are a stranger, 
so, if you wish, I will introduce you to my 
friends.” 

Susie tossed her head as she replied 
rather ungraciously, “My ma — I mean 
my mother — doesn’t wish me to make up 
with any children at this public school 
until I know what families they come from. 
She says I may meet Doris Drexel, because 
she is our banker’s daughter. My ma — 
I mean my mother — wanted to send me to 
a private school, but there ain ’t, — I mean 
there isn’t, — any around here.” 

Adele arose. “I am sorry that you feel 
that way, Susie,” she said kindly. “Our 
schoolmates are all nice, and I am afraid 
that you will be lonely alone. ’ ’ 

“Poor girl!” Adele said, as she rejoined 
her friends. 

“Such airs!” Rosamond Wright de- 
clared with a toss of her pretty head. “An 
inn-keeper’s daughter, and she doesn’t 
want to meet us, whose ancestors have been 
gentry for hundreds of years. ’ ’ 


THE NEW PUPIL 


315 


“Well,” exclaimed Bertha Angel, “let’s 
proceed to forget her.” But they were 
not allowed to forget the new pupil, as you 
shall hear. 

About a week later the Sunny Seven met 
under the elm-tree early one morning, and 
Betty Burd held up a pink envelope, as she 
exclaimed, “Who else had the honor to 
receive one of these?” 

“Honor, do you call it?” Rosamond 
asked languidly, as she displayed a pink 
envelope. “I have one, but I shall not 
accept.” 

Adele and Gertrude and Doris also had 
them, but Bertha and Peggy had none. 
The pink envelopes contained invitations 
to a very select party to be given by 
Susetta Green on the following Saturday. 

“I wasn’t select enough, because my 
father owns a grocery store, I suppose,” 
Bertha Angel declared. 

“And my dad is also a tradesman, and 
so I am left out,” Peggy Pierce added with 
twinkling eyes. “But you other girls go, 


316 


ADELE DORING 


and then you can tell us all about the 
party. ’ ’ 

“Go!” Doris Drexel exclaimed. “In- 
deed we will not go ! I told Susie Green 
myself that we seven always went to places 
together, or we didn’t go at all. Do you 
suppose for one second, Peggy Pierce, that 
I would go to a party if you and Bertha 
were left out?” 

And so it happened that Susetta Green 
received five notes of refusal to her party. 
She took them to her mother with tears in 
her eyes, as she said, “I told you, ma, that 
they wouldn’t none of them come unless 
you asked them all.” 

Mrs. Green bristled indignantly. “Ask 
the daughters of tradespeople to a select 
party? Well, I should say not! With all 
our money, we ought to associate with earls 
and dukes.” 

“But ma,” Susie dolefully replied, 
“there ain’t any earls and dukes, and I’m 
so lonely I’d just as soon play with the 
gardener’s children.” 


THE NEW PUPIL 


317 


Her mother looked at her scornfully. 
“Well,” she said, “it’s mighty queer those 
girls refused to come to your party. I 
looked up all their families and they’re the 
best around, but your pa — that is, your 
father — has more money than all of them 
put together. Just you remember that 
when you go back to school, and hold your 
head high. What’s more, I intend hiring 
a girl to be a maid for you, and then, when 
you’re older, you shall have a French 
maid. ” 

That very afternoon Mrs. Melissa Green, 
with Susetta at her side, drove in their 
handsome carriage down the country 
road. There was a coachman and a foot- 
man dressed in green livery, with brass 
buttons, sitting stiffly on the high front 
seat, and Mrs. Melissa Green, elaborately 
dressed in purple satin, felt that they must 
be making a very grand appearance. 

“ Where are we going, ma!” Susie asked. 

“I do wish you wouldn’t say ‘ma’ any 
more, nor ‘pa’, neither,” Mrs. Green said 


318 


ADELE DORING 


irritably. “ ’Tain’t stylish! Say 1 father ’ 
and ‘ mother. ’ We’re going to visit the 
orphan asylum. Folks with money, like us, 
ought to be doing something for charity. 
That’s the way to get a start in society, so 
I’ve heard tell.” 

Susetta Green thought that was a queer 
reason for doing good, but, wisely, she said 
nothing about it. What she did say, after 
a few moments of thoughtful silence, was : 
“Ma — I mean mother — I almost wish 
that we had never made any money. I’d 
heaps rather be riding bareback on my cow- 
pony out west than be sitting here so stiff 
in this grand carriage.” 

4 ‘Well,” said Mrs. Green scornfully, “if 
I had any such common wishes, I’d keep 
them to myself. Land sakes, don’t let the 
servants hear you talk that way.” 

Soon the elegant equipage stopped in 
front of the orphanage. The footman 
sprang to open the carriage-door, and Mrs. 
Green stepped down, with what she be- 
lieved to be a queenly air. Susie, looking 


THE NEW PUPIL 


319 


anything but happy, followed her up the 
gravelly walk. 

Eva and Amanda, standing at the sew- 
ing-room window, saw them, and Amanda 
said, “Some rich woman, I guess, who is 
coming to offer a home to one of the 
orphans.” 

“Maybe so,” Eva replied, giving the 
matter little thought, but she was to give it 
very serious thought before another hour 
had passed. 

When Mrs. Melissa Green, with Susetta 
at her side, entered the orphanage, the 
kindly matron, Mrs. Friend, welcomed them 
pleasantly and led them to her office. The 
visitor at once began to state her errand, 
while Susetta watched her and listened 
with wide, wondering eyes. 

“I am Mrs. Cyrus Green of the Restwell 
estate,” the newcomer began in a conde- 
scending manner, which she deemed proper 
for the very rich to use toward persons who 
were working for pay. Mrs. Green tried 
to forget that a very few months before 


320 


ADELE DORING 


she herself had been serving guests in her 
husband’s tavern, and she sincerely hoped 
that no one else knew about it. Unfortu- 
nately for her, every one in town did know 
about it, because simple Mr. Green often 
mentioned the tavern which he used to keep, 
and the men liked him all the better for it. 

“I am glad to meet you, Mrs. Green,” 
the matron said pleasantly, not at all im- 
pressed by the grand airs. “I had heard 
that a Western family had purchased the 
Restwell estate. That fine old house has 
been closed for so long that we are indeed 
glad to have it opened again. The former 
owner, the elderly Mr. Restwell, was 
greatly loved in the village and gave gen- 
erously to all of the charities.” 

Mrs. Cyrus Green cared nothing about 
the former owners, the present owner occu- 
pying all of her thoughts. “Well,” she 
said pompously, “I do feel that we people 
who have great wealth ought to do some- 
thing for the folks who ’ain’t got it, and 
that is why I came here this morning. I 


THE NEW PUPIL 


321 


want to hire one of yonr older orphans to 
be a sort of companion for Susetta here. 
I understand that you hire them out after 
they’re twelve.” 

“No, Mrs. Green,” the matron replied. 
“We do not permit our girls to work for 
wages until they are fourteen, but we are 
glad to find pleasant homes for them at any 
age, — homes in which they will be kindly 
treated, and where they will receive greater 
advantages than we can afford to give 
them. ’ ’ 

Mrs. Green did not look pleased. 
“Well,” she replied stiffly, “I wasn’t plan- 
ning to adopt a common orphan to share 
equal with my Susetta, but I will take one 
for a time, if I find one that’s suitable.” 

Mrs. Friend arose as she said, “I will 
call together our older girls, and you may 
make their acquaintance.” 

Stepping into the hall, she rang three 
times on the gong. In the sewing-room 
Eva looked up from the hem which she was 
stitching, and aloud she counted, “One! 


322 


ADELE DORING 


Two! Three !” Then, rising and folding 
her work, she said, “Come, Mandy; three 
bells means that we older girls are to go 
to the study-hall. I wonder why.” 

“It’s just what I told you,” Amanda de- 
clared. “That rich woman has come to 
adopt an orphan. I’m so ugly-looking 
that I’m sure she won’t choose me, and if 
she takes you, Eva, I’ll just die of lone- 
someness.” 

Twelve orphan girls gathered in the 
study, and together they curtsied to the 
strangers when the matron introduced 
them. Then Mrs. Green lifted a lorgnette 
to her eyes, though she could see perfectly 
well without glasses, and, walking down the 
line, she examined each girl as a man might 
a horse or a dog which he was about to 
purchase. 

Eva blushed as crimson as a poppy while 
she was being scrutinized, and uncon- 
sciously drew herself up proudly and held 
her head high. 

As soon as possible Mrs. Friend dis- 


THE NEW PUPIL 


323 


missed the girls, and the trio returned to 
the office. 

“Well,” said Mrs. Green, “there’s no 
use settin ’ down again. I ’ve made my 
choice. I pick the slender one with yellow 
hair. She looks rather uncommon. Eva, 
I think you called her. I don’t want no 
orphan who had common parents to live 
with my Susetta.” 

Mrs. Friend was about to protest that 
she could not possibly spare Eva, but just 
in time she remembered that the orphanage 
was greatly in need of funds, and she knew 
that it would not do to offend this rich 
woman who might contribute largely in the 
future, and so, with a sad heart, Mrs. 
Friend said, “Eva Dearman is a very 
lovely girl and comes of a fine old family. 
I am sorry indeed to part with her, but I 
am sure that you will do much to make her 
happy. ’ ’ 

Making the orphan happy had not been 
a part of Mrs. Green’s scheme. She merely 
wanted a maid and companion for Susetta, 


324 


ADELE DORING 


and so she replied rather coldly, “I guess 
any girl would consider it an honor to live 
in an elegant house like ours after this here 
orphanage. I will send for her to-mor- 
row. ’ ’ Then the woman was gone, Susetta 
meekly following her. 

Mrs. Friend watched them go with a 
heavy heart. How she dreaded telling 
poor Eva ! Then suddenly her face 
brightened. That very afternoon there 
was to be a meeting of the directors of the 
orphanage. Perhaps they would decide 
that Eva need not go after all. At least, 
she would not tell the little girl whom she 
so dearly loved, until the matter was 
definitely settled. 

Meanwhile, Eva and Amanda, hand in 
hand, had wandered over to the woods. 
‘ ‘ It ’s such a lovely day, ’ ’ Eva declared, 4 4 1 
feel as though I wanted to dance and sing, 
don’t you, Amanda!” 

The other girl shook her head. “No, I 
don’t!” she said. “I feel just as though 
some terrible thing was going to happen. 


THE NEW PUPIL 


325 


It’s that dreadful woman makes me feel 
that way, I guess.” 

Eva laughed gayly. ‘ 4 Well, Mandy,” 
she replied merrily, ‘ ‘ if a dreadful calamity 
does come, you and I must try to look on 
the sunny side of it.” 

Whether or not the calamity came, you 
shall soon know. 


CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE 


EVA BEGINS A NEW LIFE 

The board of directors met at the ap- 
pointed hour, and as soon as the regular 
business was disposed of, Mrs. Friend told 
the story of Mrs. Green’s visit, and ended 
by asking permission to refuse to permit 
Eva to leave the orphanage. 

The matter was discussed, but it was 
finally decided that it would be very unwise 
to offend so wealthy a possible patron as 
Mrs. Cyrus Green. “Let the child go for 
a while,” said one, “and perhaps later a 
way will be found to recall her.” 

And with that decision Mrs. Friend had 
to be content. Late that afternoon, as Eva 
and Amanda were walking arm in arm 
about the garden, a little girl ran out to 


326 


EVA BEGINS A NEW LIFE 327 


them and called, “Eva Dearman, Mrs. 
Friend wants to see yon in the office right 
away quick. I guess something awful has 
happened, she looks so sad.” 

Amanda clung to her friend. “I knew 
it,” she almost sobbed. “That dreadful 
woman chose you. I knew she was going 
to by the way she looked at you. Oh, Eva, 
you’ll be so unhappy there. Why couldn’t 
she have chosen me!” 

Eva released herself from her friend’s 
embrace and said tenderly, “Why should 
you suffer for me! You would be just as 
unhappy at Mrs. Green’s as I should. But 
don’t cry, Mandy. It may not be so very 
dreadful after all.” Then she turned and 
went into the house. 

Eva’s face was very pale when Mrs. 
Friend looked up and saw her standing in 
the doorway. The matron put her arms 
about her and held her close, as a mother 
would, and then she said, “Eva, dear, you 
don’t know how I dread telling you.” 

But the girl smiled bravely as she re- 


328 


ADELE DORING 


plied: “I know what it is! Mrs. Friend, 
you have been so kind to me. No one but 
my own mother was ever so kind, and I 
know that if you could have prevented this, 
you would have done so.” 

“I have not given up hope yet, Eva,” 
the matron replied. “If you will go for a 
time, I will try in every way to have you 
recalled as soon as possible. Dear,” she 
added, looking tenderly at the girl, “are 
you sure that you have no living relative f ’ ’ 

Eva shook her head sadly. “There is 
no one,” she said. “Father had only one 
brother, and mother was the last of her 
family. ’ ’ 

“What became of your father’s brother, 
Eva ? Did he die, also ? ’ ’ the matron asked. 

“Yes, he is dead,” Eva replied. “Uncle 
Dick went west when he was a mere lad, 
because he was so eager for adventure, and 
for several years he wrote to my father 
from different places. At last he seemed 
to settle down to one, and he wrote that he 
was having an interesting life and making 


EVA BEGINS A NEW LIFE 329 


money. Then, for a long time, father did 
not hear, and at last a letter which he had 
written was returned to him unopened, and 
on the outside was scrawled, ‘Dick Dear- 
man was killed in an Indian raid, least- 
wise it is supposed so.’ After that father 
wrote time and again, but his letters always 
came back. All this happened before 
father married my mother.” 

“Did you ever hear how your father 
addressed those letters, Eva?” the matron 
inquired. 

“To Dry Creek, Arizona,” the girl re- 
plied. And then she asked, “When am I 
to go to Mrs. Green’s?” 

“To-morrow,” the matron replied sadly. 

“Very well. Good-night, Mrs. Friend,” 
the girl said so quietly that the matron 
thought that perhaps she did not mind 
going so much after all; but if she could 
have seen the lonely motherless girl a few 
moments later, she would have known how 
cruelly hard this new experience was for 
her. 


330 


ADELE DORING 


EVa did not return to the garden, but, 
instead, she ran^up to the dormitory, and 
throwing herself upon the bed, sobbed as 
though her heart would break. Then, slip- 
ping to her knees, she held her dear 
mother’s picture, and prayed for strength 
to bear this heavy cross bravely and cheer- 
fully, as that dear mother had taught her. 

After a time peace crept into the heart 
of the girl, and she seemed to know that 
in some way all was well. By the time that 
the other orphans came into the dormitory 
for the night, Eva was able to meet them 
smilingly ; and since most of them believed 
that she had been greatly honored to have 
been the choice of the rich woman, they 
little dreamed of the hour of suffering 
which she had just passed through. 

When Eva awoke the next morning, it 
was with the feeling that something un- 
usual was going to happen. She looked 
out at the bare tree-tops in the orchard and 
at the gray autumn sky, and then she re- 
membered, and for a moment her heart 


EVA BEGINS A NEW LIFE 331 


sank within her. But suddenly the sun 
burst through a rift in the clouds, and the 
world was bright again. 

Eva sprang up to dress, as she thought 
bravely : 4 ‘ Maybe the sun will shine through 
my clouds. Anyway, if I pretend that 
going to Mrs. Green ’s is something that I 
very much want to do, it will make it seem 
easier, and, as Adele says, every cloud has 
a sunny side, even if it is very hard to see 
just at first. ” 

Mrs. Friend glanced anxiously at Eva 
when she entered the dining-room that 
morning, her arm linked through Aman- 
da’s, but the bright smile of greeting dis- 
pelled the matron’s fear that she might 
have cried all night. 

“What a dear, brave girl she is!” Mrs. 
Friend thought, and she strengthened her 
resolve to leave no stone unturned in her 
effort to have Eva recalled. 

After breakfast Eva went to the dor- 
mitory to pack her few belongings, and 
Amanda was with her. 


332 


ADELE DORING 


“I feel just like crying/ ’ Amanda said, 
“but when I see how brave you are, it 
makes me feel ashamed of myself, for even 
living here with orphans won’t be so bad 
as living with that dreadful woman. Do 
you suppose that you are to be sent to 
school with that prig of a girl ? ’ 1 

“No,” Eva replied. “Mrs. Friend told 
me that Susetta is to have a tutor come 
from the city each day, and I suppose I am 
to have lessons with her.” 

Poor little Eva little dreamed that edu- 
cating the orphan was not in Mrs. Green’s 
scheme. 

Few were the girl’s belongings, and those 
were soon packed in a satchel which had 
belonged to her father. Lovingly Eva 
touched it, and it was hard for her to keep 
back the tears when she remembered the 
big, fine man who had owned it. How sad 
he would be if he knew that his only little 
girl — But she put the thought away 
from her and smiled brightly up at her 
friend. It would not do for her to be re- 


EVA BEGINS A NEW LIFE 333 


calling the once happy home and the two 
who had so loved her. 

“Amanda,” she said, trying to speak 
cheerily, “would you like to wear my blue 
ring while I am away? Maybe it would 
be sort of company for you.” 

Amanda choked as she replied: “Oh, 
Eva, I’d be so glad to wear it. Maybe it 
would help me to be brave, the way you are. 
I ’ll just look at the ring and remember that 
you love me, and then I won ’t care so much 
if the other girls are mean.” 

“There!” Eva announced as she 
snapped the clasp of the satchel. “My 
wardrobe is packed and I am ready to de- 
part for my future palatial residence at 
Restwell. ’ ’ Then she laughingly added, as 
she caught hold of her friend and swung 
her around : “Amanda, do smile ! You look 
as though you were at a funeral. Really, 
now, things might be ever so much worse. 
I might be going miles and miles away from 
you, but, as it is, I shall be near enough 
to run over and see you often.” 


334 


ADELE DORING 


At that moment a small girl put her head 
in the dormitory-door and called excitedly : 
“Eva! Eva Dearman! Are you here? 
There’s the grandest kerridge come to get 
you. My, don’t I envy you though! 
Wouldn’t I like to he leavin’ this dismal old 
orphans ’ home and going to live in a castle, 
like as not, where there’s servants with 
gold buttons to wait on you.” 

Eva hurriedly put on her hat and coat, 
and then, kissing her friend, she whispered : 
“Don’t cry, Amanda. Somehow I feel sure 
that something ever so nice is going to hap- 
pen soon for both of us. I can ’t think what 
it will be, but I feel it in my bones, and you 
can’t guess what good prophets my bones 
are,” she added merrily as they started 
down the stairs. 

Mrs. Friend was waiting in the hall, and 
she and Amanda walked out to the gate 
with Eva, Amanda carrying the satchel, 
as she would gladly have carried all of her 
friend’s burdens if only she could. 

A liveried footman helped Eva into the 


EVA BEGINS A NEW LIFE 335 


carriage, to tlie envy of all the orphans, 
who were watching from the windows of 
the Home. 

“My, but ain’t she a lucky girl!” said 
Jenny Waine to her neighbor. 

“For my part,” Sally West replied, “I 
can ’t see why that rich woman would choose 
such a pale, skinny girl. You’re much 
prettier, with your red cheeks and black 
eyes.” 

“Well, I’m thinking they won’t keep her 
long,” Jenny replied, with a toss of her 
head which set her raven curls to bobbing, 
‘ ‘ and then maybe one of us will get the next 
chance. ’ ’ 

Meanwhile Eva, seated upon the luxu- 
rious purple cushions, leaned back com- 
fortably as she thought, “I’m just going 
to enjoy every pleasant thing that comes 
along and not worry about the future.” 

This was a wise decision, but Eva did 
not find many things to enjoy during the 
next few weeks. 


CHAPTER THIRTY 

EVA HUMILIATED 

The spirited horses soon turned in be- 
tween two high stone gate-posts, on the top 
of which two stone lions were crouching. 
The wide lawns were beautifully kept, and 
bright-colored autumn flowers flamed in the 
neat beds. Over a smooth, wide drive the 
carriage rolled with its small occupant. 
It did not stop at the front of the house, 
but went around to the servants’ entrance, 
and there a maid, in cap and apron, met 
Eva and led her up the back-stairs to a 
small room which she said was next to her 
own. 

When Eva had been left alone, she stood 
very still, looking about her at the plain 
furnishings, and then it slowly dawned 


336 


EVA HUMILIATED 


337 


upon her that, instead of being there as an 
equal and a companion for Susetta, she was 
to be classed as a servant. Hot tears 
rushed to her eyes, hut she tried to console 
herself with the thought that it would not 
be for long; it could not be. Mrs. Friend 
would not permit it. And Adele, what 
would Adele say? 

There was a rustle in the doorway, and 
there stood Mrs. Green in an elaborate 
rose-colored house-dress. 

“I see you Ve come,” she said without a 
word of greeting. “Here’s a black dress 
I want you to wear, and — er — a cap and 
aprcn. I like to have all the — er — help- 
ers around the house dressed alike. Folks 
who have great wealth ought to do things 
stylish. ’ ’ 

“So they should, Mrs. Green,” Eva re- 
plied politely. 

“Your duties,” Mrs. Green continued, 
“will be to look after Miss Susetta ’s room, 
and to mend her clothes, and to ride out 
with her when I am not able to go. I hope 


338 


ADELE DORING 


that you speak English right. I don ’t want 
no one who talks ignorant associatin' with 
my daughter, and me a-paying out a lot of 
money for a tutor to come down from the 
city to teach her. ” 

4 ‘ I will try to speak correctly, ’ ’ Eva said, 
feeling as though she was taking a part in 
a play, everything seemed so unreal and 
unnatural. 

‘ ‘ When you are dressed, you may come 
to my room, which is at the front of the 
second-floor hall. ’ ’ So saying Mrs. Green, 
elephantine in her loose rose-colored house- 
dress, walked away, and Eva actually 
laughed to herself as she made the change. 
Being able to see the humorous side of a 
thing saves many a needless heartache. 

Half an hour later she rapped lightly on 
a closed door on the second-floor front and 
was bidden to enter. 

Susetta was there, and she jumped up, 
crying joyfully, 4 ‘Oh, Eva, I’m so glad you 
have come! How I have wanted a girl of 
my own age to — ” 


EVA HUMILIATED 


339 


But she got no farther, for her mother, 
with a frown, said reprovingly, “Susetta, 
didn’t I tell you never to speak familiar, 
like that, to — er — the helpers!” Then, 
turning to Eva, she said, “Yonder is some 
mending in a basket. You may begin on 
that. ’ ’ 

Eva sat in a low rocker by a side-window 
and began to mend the muslin garments. 
She liked to sew, and she dearly loved lacy 
things, so she was rather enjoying her task. 

Susetta pouted, but obediently returned to 

0 

her seat at the front window. Picking 
up her book, she tried to read, but, not 
being interested, she often looked listlessly 
down on the park-like grounds. Suddenly 
she gave an exclamation of pleasure. ‘ ‘ Oh, 
ma! ma! Do look!” she cried excitedly. 
“There’s the banker’s daughter, and the 
Doring girl in her pony-cart. They’re 
coming to call on me. ’ ’ 

Mrs. Green peered out between the cur- 
tains as she replied, “I told you they’d 
come fast enough when they found out how 


340 


ADELE DORING 


rich we are. I’m glad it’s that Doring 
girl. Her folks belong to one of the oldest 
families around, and her grandpa owned 
’most all of the land in the town. Those 
two girls are just the ones that I want you 
to know.” 

There came a rap on the door, and a 
maid entered and announced, “Miss Doring 
and Miss Drexel to call upon Miss Eva 
Dearman.” 

A deep red mounted to Mrs. Green’s 
brow, and she replied angrily, “Just tell 
them, if you please, that I do not let my 
servants have company except on certain 
days, and that Eva Dearman’s day hasn’t 
been picked out yet. What’s more, tell 
them that the servants’ friends go to the 
side-door.” 

Mrs. Green was so angry that she hardly 
knew what she was saying. Eva’s cheeks 
flushed, and for a second she felt inclined 
to resent what had been said, but wisely 
she decided to say nothing. 

The maid delivered the message which 


EVA HUMILIATED 


341 


Mrs. Green had sent, and the girls were 
very indignant. 

“Poor Eva!” Adele said as they were 
driving away. 4 4 If I only had known that 
she was to be sent to Mrs. Green’s. I 
didn’t know a thing about it until I tele- 
phoned to Mrs. Friend an hour ago. But 
she won’t have to endure this humiliation 
much longer. My mother loves Eva, and 
she will gladly invite her to visit us 
indefinitely. ’ ’ 

When Adele reached home she ran into 
the house, and, pausing in the lower hall, 
she called, “Mumsie, where are you?” 

4 4 In the library, dear, ’ ’ a sweet voice re- 
plied. And Adele, flushed and excited, 
went in and sank down on the stool at her 
mother’s feet as she exclaimed, 4 4 Oh, mum- 
sie, I am so mad! I never was madder, I 
guess, in all my days. I ’ve tried and tried 
to think kind things about that horrid Mrs. 
Green, but I just can’t, no matter how hard 
I try.” 

4 4 Mrs. Green!” the mother repeated 


342 


ADELE DORING 


wonderingly. 4 ‘Why, pet, what have you 
to do with her?” 

Then in a rush of words Adele told the 
whole story. Mrs. Doring, who truly loved 
Eva, was surprised that the matron of the 
Home had allowed her to be so humiliated. 
“I will telephone to Mrs. Friend at once,” 
she said, as she arose and went into Mr. 
Doring ’s small study. 

The matron of the orphanage w T as also 
very indignant when she heard that Eva 
was being treated as a servant. 

“Mrs. Doring,” she said over the wire, 
“I sincerely hope that you do not think 
that I had any knowledge that such was to 
be the case. Mrs. Green told me that she 
wished Eva to be a companion for Susetta, 
and when I asked her in what manner the 
orphan would be able to continue her 
studies, Mrs. Green replied that she had 
engaged a tutor to come from the city each 
day, and she inferred, if she did not directly 
say, that Eva would have lessons with 
Susetta. Eva is one of the dearest girls I 


EVA HUMILIATED 


343 


have ever known, and I did my best to pre- 
vent her going, but the directors, know- 
ing that the orphanage is much over- 
crowded, felt that it is best to find homes 
for the girls as soon as possible, and, more- 
over, they did not wish to offend Mrs. 
Green, who is a rich woman and might con- 
tribute liberally, and the home is greatly 
in need of funds.’ ’ 

“But surely Eva ought not to be sacri- 
ficed,” Mrs. Doring replied. “Couldn’t 
you send one of the other girls who has 
not so sensitive a nature? ” 

“Unfortunately, Eva was Mrs. Green’s 
choice,” the matron said sadly. 

“Suppose, then, that I take Eva,” Mrs. 
Doring continued. “I will do so gladly. 
In fact, Mr. Doring and I were recently 
considering the matter, and had almost de- 
cided to ask Eva to become our adopted 
daughter and a sister for Adele. The two 
girls love each other so dearly that I am 
sure that it would be a very happy ar- 
rangement. ’ ’ 


344 


ADELE DORING 


“It would, indeed,’ ’ Mrs. Friend replied, 
“and I will lay the matter before the board 
of directors at their next meeting, which, 
unfortunately, will not be for another fort- 
night. Until that time I shall be powerless 
to act in the matter.” 

When Mrs. Doring returned to the 
library, Adele threw her arms about her 
and cried joyfully, “Oh, mumsie, I heard 
what you said about adopting Eva. How 
wonderful that would be! When can she 
come? May I drive over and get her this 
very moment? I can’t bear to have her 
spend a single night under the same roof 
with those horrid people.” 

“Adele, dear,” her mother said gently, 
“calling names won’t help Eva. Mrs. 
Green has had few opportunities. If she 
had had the advantages that we have had, 
perhaps she would he different. We must 
remember that.” 

“Very well, mumsie,” Adele said con- 
tritely. “I’ll try not to think unkindly of 
Mrs. Green any more. I’ll try not to think 


EVA HUMILIATED 


345 


of her at all, but please do tell me when I 
may go after my dear sister Eva.” 

Then Mrs. Doring told all that the 
matron had said. “Oh-h!” Adele sighed. 
“Then poor Eva must stay there for two 
long weeks. Well, at least I will telephone 
to her and tell her that we are trying to 
get her out of her prison.” 

A moment later Adele emerged from her 
father’s study, looking very unlike her 
cheerful self. Mrs. Doring put one arm 
about the girl, as she laughingly exclaimed, 
“Well, little Miss Thunder-cloud, what 
happened!” 

“I called up Restwell,” Adele began, 
“and I asked if I might speak to Eva Dear- 
man. The butler, I suppose it was, replied, 
and he said the servants were not allowed 
to use the ’phone. Now, how can I let Eva 
know! She may fret herself ill.” 

“Eva has a brave, noble nature, and I 
am sure that she will cheerfully make the 
best of things, and, Della, two weeks will 
quickly pass, and after that we will do all 


346 


ADELE DORING 


that we can to make up for the unhappy 
year that Eva has had. ’ ’ 

However, before the fortnight was over, 
something very unexpected happened. 


CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE 

SOMETHING UNEXPECTED 

/ 

The days dragged slowly by for both 
Eva and Adele. Mrs. Green had been so 
angry because the daughters of the two 
best families in town had called upon 
her servant instead of upon her daughter, 
that she tried ever after to humiliate the 
girl, as though in some way it had been her 
fault. 

Once only did Adele catch sight of Eva, 
and that was when the orphan was sitting 
beside Susetta in a handsome carriage, 
which was being slowly driven down the 
main street of the village. Susetta was 
elaborately dressed in a ruffled pale-blue 
silk, which was partly covered with a 
mantle of fluffy white furs. Her pale-blue 
hat was also fur-trimmed. Eva Dearman, 


347 


348 


ADELE DORING 


by contrast, was dressed like a maid, in 
black, with white cap and apron. This was 
the first time that the orphan had been pub- 
licly humiliated, and her face looked very 
white as Adele passed on her pony. 

‘ ‘ Good morning, Eva, ’ ’ Adele called. A 
faint smile was the only reply that she 
received, but Susetta tossed her head 
angrily. She was imbibing more of her 
mother’s spirit every day. 

Adele, who had intended to call upon 
Amanda at the orphanage, was so indig- 
nant at Eva’s public humiliation that she 
whirled her pony around and galloped 
home as fast as Firefly could go. She 
found her mother in the sewing-room. 
“Oh, mumsie!” she sobbed as she threw 
her arms about Mrs. Doring. “I can’t 
stand it ! I won’t stand it ! ” 

“Can’t stand what, pet?” her mother 
asked, as she smoothed the girl’s hair. 

Then Adele told what she had seen, and 
she added, “Eva’s family was just as good 
as ours, or anybody’s, and she is so sensi- 


SOMETHING UNEXPECTED 349 


tive. I could tell by her white face that 
she was suffering cruelly, but she held her 
head high, and, oh, mumsie, for all the dif- 
ference in clothes, any one could tell that 
Eva was the real lady. ’ ’ 

“Of course, dear,” Mrs. Doring replied. 
“It is not the work that we do nor the 
clothes that we wear, but just what we are, 
that makes us gentlewomen. But do not 
grieve so, Adele. Just think, in four days 
we shall have Eva here with us, and after 
that we will do all that we can to make her 
happy. ’ ’ 

“Well,” Adele said with a sigh, as she 
picked up her riding-hat, “if there is noth- 
ing that I can do about it, I might as well 
go over and see Amanda Brown. She is 
so lonely with Eva away.” 

As Adele neared the orphanage, she saw 
the station-wagon stopping near the gate. 
‘ ‘ More orphans being brought to the Home, 
I suppose,” she thought, but instead, a 
man alighted and bade the driver wait. 
The stranger was about forty-five years of 


350 


ADELE DORING 


age, dressed in typical western style, and 
as he glanced at the girl, she saw that his 
weather-browned face was good-looking 
and kindly. Adele dismounted, and, toss- 
ing Firefly’s reins over a hitching-post, 
started up the gravelly walk, just back of 
the stranger. He turned and smiled pleas- 
antly at her, as he asked, “Am I right in 
believing that this is the county or- 
phanage ? 9 9 

“Yes, it is,” Adele replied, walking be- 
side him. 

“Do you happen to know if this is where 
my niece, Eva Dearman, is staying?” 

If the skies had opened and an angel had 
appeared to deliver Eva, Adele could not 
have been more surprised. 

“Oh, sir!” she cried, scarcely able to 
believe what she had heard. “Are you 
really her uncle ? Can it be true that poor 
Eva has an own relation?” 

“Why do you call my niece ‘poor’? ” the 
stranger asked with evident concern. “Is 
she ill or in trouble?” 


SOMETHING UNEXPECTED 351 


Then Adele told the whole story. The 
face of Richard Dearman showed deep feel- 
ing as he listened, and then he said almost 
brokenly, “To think of my brother’s little 
girl enduring such humiliation!” 

Then he strode to the orphanage door 
and inquired for Mrs. Friend. The matron 
was out and was not expected back for two 
hours. 

The man then turned to Adele, as he 
asked, “Young lady, will you take me to the 
place where my niece is being treated like a 
servant?” 

“Indeed I will, gladly,” Adele replied, 
and soon they were on the road, Richard 
Dearman in the station-wagon, and Adele 
riding alongside on Firefly. 

Meanwhile Eva, sad and weary, was on 
her knees, cleaning the hardwood floor in 
Susetta’s room. Little did she dream of 
the great joy that was coming to her. 

When they reached the imposing en- 
trance to the Restwell estate, Adele bade 
Mr. Dearman good-by, believing that he 


352 


ADELE DORING 


would rather meet his niece alone. Just 
as the station-wagon stopped at the broad 
front steps, the door of the house opened, 
and a short man, with reddish complexion, 
hurried down. Mr. Dearman was at that 
moment alighting from the wagon, and the 
two men met face to face. There was an 
exclamation of pleased surprise from Mr. 
Green, as he hurried forward and extended 
his hand. 

“Well, Dick Dearman !” he cried. 
“Whatever are you doing so far from the 
Woolly West? I swan, I never was so glad 
to see anvbodv! I’m sure tired of these 
Eastern dudes. The men are decent 
enough, you understand, but somehow they 
are different. Mighty good of you, Dick, 
to hunt us up.” 

Before the visitor had time to explain 
the truth concerning his errand, the door 
opened again, and this time Mrs. Green, 
in her rose-colored house-dress, appeared, 
and Mr. Green called, “Melissy, do see 
who is here. Dick Dearman, the Cattle 


SOMETHING UNEXPECTED 353 


King of Silver Creek, has come to visit us. ” 
4 4 How do you do, Mrs. Green ,’ 9 the new- 
comer said. “I heard that you had given 
up the tavern business and had come east, 
but I did not dream that it was you with 
whom my niece, Eva Dearman, is staying. ’ ’ 
For a moment the face of Mrs. Green 
became very white and her eyes looked 
frightened. She had understood, from 
what the matron of the Home had told her, 
that Eva had no living relation, and now 
she suddenly found that Eva had an uncle, 
who was a man of wealth and influence in 
the West. What would he say if he knew 
how unkind she had been to the girl! But 
he must not know. She thought quickly, 
and aloud she exclaimed with pretended 
pleasure, “Well, now, is it possible that 
you are the uncle of our dear Eva! I didn’t 
suppose that she had any own folks, and I 
was so taken with her sweet face, when I 
was over at the orphanage, that I asked the 
matron to let her come and live with us, 
and be a sister to our lonely little girl.” 


354 


ADELE DORING 


Mr. Dearman knew that this was not the 
truth, but he replied with extreme polite- 
ness. “You were indeed kind to take so 
much trouble to make my niece happy, but, 
as you may surmise, I am very eager to see 
my brother’s little girl; that is, if she is 
here. ’ ’ 

Mrs. Green knew very well that at that 
moment Eva was cleaning Susetta’s room, 
but she answered evasively, “I’m not sure 
that the girls have come home as yet. It 
was such a lovely day, I sent them for a 
drive. ’ ’ 

Then, turning to Mr. Green, she said: 
“Pa, you take Mr. Dearman into the library 
and I ’ll see if I can find Eva. How pleased 
the dear child will be ! ” 

Then the flustered woman hurried away. 
When the two men were in the library, 
Mr. Green excused himself, saying that he 
had an engagement with his banker, but 
that he would see their visitor at luncheon. 
Then he, too, departed, leaving Mr. Dear- 
man alone. 


SOMETHING UNEXPECTED 355 


Meanwhile, Mrs. Green had hastened to 
her daughter’s room. It was in perfect 
order, and Susetta, curled in a chair, was 
reading a book. The orphan was not 
there. 

“Wherever is Eva Dearman?” Mrs. 
Green asked in such an excited tone of 
voice that Susetta looked up in surprise 
and inquired, “What’s wrong, maf” 

“Wrong? Everything’s wrong!” her 
mother replied. “Here we’ve been treat- 
ing that orphan like a servant, and her 
uncle has just come for her, and he’s richer 
than your own pa even, and what would he 
say if he knew how we’d been treating the 
girl? But he mustn’t know! Susetta, find 
Eva at once and dress her up in some of 
vour fine clothes and tell her that we didn’t 

t/ 

intend to have her for a servant any longer. 
Tell her I was a-going to adopt her and 
have her for your sister.” 

Then it was that something in Susetta 
which was like her blunt, honest father, 
awoke, and her eyes flashed as she replied, 


356 


ADELE DORING 


“I won’t tell Eva any such thing, ma, be- 
cause it’s a lie.” 

The mother cowed before her daughter ’s 
reproof, and then hurried down the hall to 
see if Eva was in her room, but she was not 
there. The girl had gone down-stairs to 
replace the cleaning utensils in the kitchen- 
closet. She was about to return to her 
room when the parlor-maid appeared with 
a vase of flowers. 

“Oh, Eva,” she said, “won’t you please 
take these into the library? I have so 
much to do, I will never get through.” 

Eva, always willing to oblige, took the 
cut-glass vase with its bouquet of sweet 
pink roses and went toward the library, 
little dreaming that her very own uncle was 
waiting in there. 

The girl had one hand on the silk plush 
portieres, and was about to push them back, 
when she heard her name called softly from 
above. 


CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO 


A HAPPY MEETING 

Eva paused and looked up the broad 
stairway. At the top stood Mrs. Green, 
frantically beckoning to her. 

“Eva,” the woman called in a stage 
whisper, “don’t go into the library. Come 
here, quick!” 

The girl, puzzled indeed, was about to 
obey, when the portieres parted and a tall, 
good-looking man appeared. He had been 
examining a painting near the doorway 
and had plainly heard the excited stage- 
whisper, the meaning of which he had 
easily interpreted. 

Eva stepped back in surprise when she 
beheld the stranger, and, placing the vase 
of flowers on a near-by table, was about to 


357 


358 


ADELE DORING 


hasten away, when the man stepped in 
front of her and held out both his hands. 
Eva, glancing at his face, saw in it an ex- 
pression of love and tenderness snch as 
she had not seen for many months. What 
could it mean! Then the stranger spoke. 
“Eva,” he said, “I am your Uncle Dick. 
Mrs. Friend wrote to me and — ” But be- 
fore he could say another word, the girl 
had thrown her arms about his neck, and 
was clinging to him as though she never 
meant to let him go again. 

“Oh, Uncle Dick! Uncle Dick!” she 
sobbed. “Take me away from here! 
Please take me away! I’ve tried so hard 
to be brave, truly I have, but I’ve been so 
miserably lonesome without father or 
mother or any own folks to love me. How 
good it was of God to send you to me ! ’ ’ 

There were tears also in the eyes of the 
strong man as he held the slender girl in a 
close embrace. 

Meanwhile Mrs. Green, when she saw 
that the meeting was inevitable, had dis- 


A HAPPY MEETING 


359 


appeared into her own room and locked the 
door. She did not care even to face her 
daughter just then. Soon she heard the 
front-door close, and, peering between the 
window-curtains, she saw the station- 
wagon roll away, and she was indeed glad 
that Mr. Dearman was taking Eva without 
further ado. The girl, she noted, was 
dressed as she had been when she came 
from the orphanage, and her own belong- 
ings were in the satchel which had been 
her father’s. 

Adele, having galloped home at top 
speed, had told the wonderful news to her 
mother. 

“Of course I am sorry to lose my new 
sister,” she ended, “but it never would 
have been the same as own folks for Eva. 
And, just think of it, mumsie, her very own 
uncle has come for her and is going to take 
her back west with him. ’ ’ 

“I am so glad for the poor child,” Mrs. 
Doring replied. “And now, Adele,” she 
added, “suppose you ride back and invite 


360 


ADELE DORING 


Eva and her uncle to come here and stay 
until they leave for the west.” 

“Oh, mumsie,” the girl cried with shin- 
ing eyes, as she gave her mother a bear- 
hug. “What nice things you do think of! 
I will go at once, for I am sure they will 
not be long at Mrs. Green ’s, and the hotel 
is such a dismal place.” 

Once more the girl mounted Firefly and 
galloped up the Lake Road. Before long 
she saw the station-wagon approaching, 
and she waved her hat joyously. 

“Here comes Adele!” Eva exclaimed, as 
she looked up at her uncle with shining 
eyes. Her face, which had been pale an 
hour before, was glowing with rosy color. 
“You just can’t think how kind she has 
been to me,” Eva continued. “She found 
me crying one day soon after I came to the 
orphanage, and she has been just like a 
sister to me ever since, haven’t you, 
Adele ? ’ ’ she asked gayly, as Firefly whirled 
around beside the carriage. 

“Yes, I suppose so,” Adele replied, not 


A HAPPY MEETING 


361 


knowing in the least what her friend was 
talking about. “Oh, Eva!” she cried. 
“I’m so happy because now you have some 
own folks, and so is mumsie, and she sent 
me to ask you and your uncle to come to 
our house and stay until you go west. ’ ’ 

i ‘ How nice that will be ! ” Eva exclaimed. 
“When are we going west, Uncle Dick!” 

“Just as soon as I can arrange to get a 
section through to Chicago. Probably by 
to-morrow noon.” 

“Oh, so soon!” Adele asked dolefully, 
as she suddenly realized what losing Eva 
would mean to her. Mr. Dearman saw the 
troubled expression, and he was pleased to 
know that his niece had so good a friend, 
so he hastened to say, “Miss Adele, I do 
hope that you will be able to come west and 
make us a long visit. We have an attrac- 
tive old ranch-house and I am sure that you 
would enjoy it, and, since you ride so well, 
perhaps you and Eva would like to be my 
cow-girls.” 

“Oh, wouldn’t I love that life!” Adele 


362 


ADELE DORING 


replied. “If mumsie will allow me to, I 
will visit yon next vacation. ” Then she 
looked np anxiously as she asked, “Would 
that be too soon?” 

“No, indeed!” laughed Uncle Dick. 
“The sooner the better. The ranch needs 
just such company.” 

Mrs. Doring was at the front gate to 
greet Eva, and she repeated the invitation 
which Adele had already given. 

“Thank you, Mrs. Doring,” Mr. Dear- 
man replied. “My suit-case is at the hotel, 
and so I will remain there to-night, but I 
will gladly leave Eva with you until 
morning. ’ ’ 

What a happy visit the two girls had 
that evening, as they sat in the pretty wild- 
rose room! “Adele,” Eva exclaimed, as 
she put her arm about her friend, “Pm 
almost glad now that I was sent to the 
orphanage, for if I hadn’t been I would 
never have known you, and I do love you 
just as much as I could if you were my 
very own sister, I do believe.” 


A HAPPY MEETING 


363 


“And we ’ll never, never lose each other, 
will we?” Adele replied. 

‘ ‘ Of course not ! ’ 9 Eva exclaimed. ‘ 1 How 
could we? We’ll write letters often, and 
next summer you are to come to visit me. 
Your mother told Uncle Dick that she 
thought that you might, if some friend hap- 
pened to be traveling west at that time. ’ ’ 

4 4 Good ! ’ ’ Adele cried. 4 i How I ’d love to 
play cow-girl and dress in khaki, with a 
red handkerchief about my neck ! Oh, Eva, 
won’t it be glorious to gallop across the 
desert trails ?” 

“It will be glorious to have you with 
me,” Eva replied, “but since I have never 
ridden horseback, I am not sure how much 
I shall enjoy that.” 

“You’ll love it, I know,” Eva exclaimed. 
Then a tender light appeared in her eyes 
as she said, “Oh, Adele, just to think that 
I am going to have a real home with an 
own relative in it; and the best, the very 
best, of it is that Uncle Dick looks just as 
father did when he was younger. Why, 


364 


ADELE DORING 


Adele, I’m so happy, so happy, that it 
seems as though those dreadful days at 
Mrs. Green’s must have been just a 
dream.” Then, taking Adele ’s hand, she 
added, ‘ 4 There is one request which I have 
to make, and that is, please be kind to poor 
Amanda. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘I promise,” Adele replied. Then for a 
time the two girls, hand in hand, sat quietly 
in the gathering twilight, and then Eva 
said softly, “I’m thinking of my mother 
and of how happy she must be if she knows 
that at last her little girl is to have a real 
home and some one to love her. ’ ’ 


1 


CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE 

FAREWELL TO THE ORPHANAGE 

The next morning the girls woke up 
early. Soon after breakfast the station- 
wagon appeared, and in it was Uncle Dick, 
who said that he would drive Eva over to 
the orphanage, that she might say good-by 
to the matron and to the orphans. 

Mrs. Friend, they were told upon arriv- 
ing, was with a sick child, but would be 
down as soon as possible. 

‘ ‘ You wait here in the office, Uncle Dick, ’ ’ 
Eva said, “and I will go and find poor 
Amanda. ’ ’ 

How Eva dreaded telling her friend that 
she was going away to the Far West, for 
well she knew how deep and sincere the 
girPs grief would be. It was Saturday 


365 


366 


ADELE DORING 


morning, and the orphans were busy about 
their tasks, Amanda, as usual, cleaning the 
study-hall. When the door opened, she 
looked up, and then, with an exclamation 
of joy, fairly flew across the room, and, 
throwing her arms about Eva, she cried: 
“Oh, you dear, dear Eva ! Have you come 
back to stay! Please say that you have! 
I can ’t live here without you ! I had made 
up my mind that if I couldn’t be with you 
any more, I would run away. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Oh, Mandy ! ’ ’ Eva exclaimed anxiously. 
“You mustn’t run away ! Promise me that 
you will not. Mrs. Friend is so kind, and — 
and, I can’t stay with you, Mandy, because 
I am going far away to the West.” 

Then Eva drew her friend to a bench and 
told her the story of her uncle ’s coming. 

“I’m so glad for you,” Amanda said, 
and then, putting her head down on her 
friend’s shoulder, she burst into a torrent 
of tears. 

“Oh, Eva!” she sobbed. “Please don’t 
think I am selfish enough to want you 


FAREWELL TO THE ORPHANAGE 367 


to stay here now, but when I think that I am 
never, never to see you again, and there’s 
no one else in the whole world whom I love, 
I guess it ’s more than I can bear. ’ ’ 

“Do try to be brave, Handy,” Eva said, 
tears brimming her eyes. “I’ll write to 
you every week, and Adele said that she 
would be a friend to you. She likes you, 
really she does. But come ; I want you to 
meet my dear Uncle Dick.” 

Amanda dried her eyes and permitted 
her friend to lead her to the office. There 
she took Mr. Dearman’s offered hand, and, 
looking up into his face with a pitiful ex- 
pression, she said brokenly, “I’m so glad 
that Eva has an own relation. ’ ’ 

Then the tears came with a rush, and the 
girl hurried out of the room. Going to the 
dormitory, she threw herself on her cot and 
sobbed and sobbed. 

Eva looked at her uncle with brimming 
eyes. “I’m the only friend Amanda has, ’ ’ 
she said simply, and then she told the story 
of the lonely orphan’s life. “It doesn’t 


368 


ADELE DORING 


seem right for me to go and leave her,” 
Eva added sadly. 

Then all of a sudden a bright smile 
lighted the face of Uncle Dick, and he ex- 
claimed, “We won’t leave her, Eva. We’ll 
take her with us ! The ranch-house is big, 
and it will be splendid for you to have a 
girl companion, for our nearest neighbor is 
eight miles away.” 

4 4 Uncle Dick,” Eva cried, scarcely able 
to believe her ears. “Do you really mean 
that! Truly, may Amanda go with us? 
Oh, you can’t guess how happy she will 
be!” 

Then Eva, entirely forgetting that Mrs. 
Friend ought first to be consulted, flew 
up-stairs to the dormitory, where she felt 
sure she would find the heart-broken or- 
phan. “Amanda!” she called joyously. 
“Don’t you cry another tear. Something 
wonderful has happened. Uncle Dick is 
going to take you, too. He suggested it all 
himself.” 

Amanda, springing to her feet, caught 


FAREWELL TO THE ORPHANAGE 369 


her friend’s hands as she exclaimed, 4 ‘Eva 
Dearman, am I dreaming, or is it really 
true?” 

“It’s really true,” the other replied. 
“And do hurry, dear, for we are to take the 
noon train. ’ ’ 

Hastily Amanda washed, combed her 
hair, and donned her best blue alpaca 
dress, and then, all of a sudden, she thought 
of something. “Why, Eva,” she said, 
“won’t I have to ask Mrs. Friend if I may 
go?” 

Before the other girl could reply, the 
matron herself appeared with such a bright 
smile that the girls knew that everything 
must be all right. 

“Eva and Amanda! ” she said as she 
kissed one and then the other. “I am so 
happy for you both. It is not customary 
to dismiss a child from the Home without 
the approval of the board of directors, but 
this time I myself will assume the respon- 
sibility. ’ ’ 

A few moments later the station-wagon 


370 


ADELE DORING 


drove away, and Eva and Amanda waved 
to the matron and her remaining children 
until they were out of sight. They were 
beginning a new life. 

Adele, at the Doring gate, was surprised 
to see Amanda’s shining face. Then, all 
at once, the truth dawned upon her, and, 
with a cry of joy, she ran forward and 
caught the orphan’s hand as she stepped 
from the carriage. ‘ 4 Oh, Mandy ! ’ ’ she cried. 
“ You are going, too. I just know that you 
are, and I ’m so glad for you. ’ ’ 

Mrs. Doring came out, and she, too, re- 
joiced to hear the wonderful good news. 
Then, turning to Mr. Dearman, she said: 
“I want you all three to come in and have 
a good dinner before you start on your 
journey. It is only eleven, two full hours 
before your train leaves. My son Jack is 
here, and he will take you to the station in 
our car.” 

Mr. Dearman, knowing that this had 
been planned to give Eva pleasure, readily 
consented, and, paying the driver of the 


FAREWELL TO THE ORPHANAGE 371 


station-wagon generously, with a pleasant 
word he dismissed him. 

Jack Doring was eager to meet this man 
from the West about whom he had heard 
so much. 

Eva and Adele visited merrily as they 
ate the good dinner which Kate had pre- 
pared, but Amanda was so overcome with 
her new joy that she could hardly eat at 
all, but her black eyes were shining like 
stars at midnight. Mrs. Doring, noticing 
this, slipped out and asked Kate to put up 
a bountiful lunch that the girls might eat 
later on the train. 

“Do tell that kind Madge Peterson all 
about our great good fortune,’ ’ Eva was 
saying to Adele. "She was so nice to us, 
and I am sure that she will be glad to hear 
about it. Tell her that I hope, some day, 
she will be in the West and that we may 
meet her again.” 

"Eva,” Jack said solemnly, "here you 
are inviting everybody else to visit you and 
leaving me out. Haven’t I been nice to 


372 


ADELE DORING 


you! Why, the very first evening I ever 
met you, I invited you to a fudge party. ’ ’ 

“So you did,” Eva laughingly replied. 
“And if it were my house, I would surely 
invite you to visit us when Adele comes 
next summer.” 

“Then you may consider yourself in- 
vited, Master Jack,” Mr. Dearman ex- 
claimed, “for Eva is going to be the mis- 
tress of the Bar-X Ranch, and she may 
invite there whomever she pleases. In- 
deed, we shall be able to find bunks for any 
number of young people.” 

“If my sister goes West I surely ought 
to escort her,” Jack exclaimed, “and pro- 
tect her from train-robbers and scalping 
Indians ! ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Oh-h ! ’ ’ sighed Adele. ‘ ‘ It will be nine 
whole months before next summer. It 
doesn’t seem as though I could wait so 
long. ’ 9 

“Time flies,” her mother smilingly as- 
sured her. “Before you realize it, you will 
be packing your trunk and buying a ticket 


FAREWELL TO THE ORPHANAGE 373 

for — where, Mr. Dearman?” she inquired, 
turning to their guest. 

“ Douglas is the nearest station, although 

« 

some of the trains stop at Silver Creek, ” 
he replied. Then they all arose, and soon 
were seated in the big touring-car, with 
Jack driving them to the station. 

Adele was almost as excited as were Eva 
and Amanda when the shrill whistle of the 
approaching engine was heard, and when 
the train slowed up and stopped, there 
were tears in their eyes as they kissed each 
other good-by, promising to write often. 

“Oh, Adele/ ’ Eva whispered in a last 
embrace. “You have been so good to me, 
and you will never know what it has meant, 
because you have not lost your mother.” 

Then Uncle Dick helped the two girls 
into the car nearest, and they waved from 
the window while the train was slowly leav- 
ing the station. 

Adele turned away with a sense of lone- 
liness, but through her tears she saw her 
mother waiting for her, and, nestling close 


374 


ADELE DORING 


to that loved one on the back seat of the 
car, she said softly, “Mumsie, dear, I feel 
as if I were living in a story-book, and that 
one chapter was finished, and now I am so 
eager to know what the next chapter will 
be.” 

If yon are also interested, yon can learn 
the ‘ ‘ next chapter” by reading “Adele 
Doring on a Ranch.” 


THE END 


BOOKS BY RENA I. HALSEY 

Illustrated Cloth $1.50 each 


BLUE ROBIN, THE GIRL PIONEER 

N ATHALIE PAGE is just such a girl of sixteen as one likes to 
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Illustrated in two colors by John Goss 
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CHRISTMAS IN LEGEND AND STORN 

A Book for Boys and Girls 


Compiled by ELVA S. SMITH 

Cataloguer of Children’s Books, Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh, 

and ALICE I. HAZELTINE 

Supervisor of Children’s Work, St. Louis Public Library 
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BRAVE HEART SERIES 

By A dele E. Thompson 
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Polly of the Pines 

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A Story of 1812 

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HANDICRAFT FOR HANDY GIRLS 

By A. NEELY HALL 

Author of “The Boy Craftsman,” “Handicraft for Handy Boys,” “The Handy Boy* 

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A Little Maid of Boston Town 

By MARGARET SIDNEY 

I 

12mo Cloth Illustrated by F. T. MERRILL $1.50 net 

"THE opening chapters introduce us to, 
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A really thrilling tale of the American Revolution. Interesting lor 1 
both old and young . — Minneapolis Journal. 


Pot sal* by mil booksellers or seat postpaid on receipt of 
price by the publishers 

10THR0P, LEE & SHEPARD CO., Boston 



THE 

FAMOUS PEPPER BOOKS 

By Margaret Sidney 

l M ORDER OF PUBLICATION 

Cloth i2mo Illustrated Net $1.50 each 

i 3 a— — a— — 1 — — » . ■ . r .i . in 1IH.I. M .MH 


Five Little Peppers and How they Grew. 

This was an instantaneous success ; it has become a genuine child classic. 

Five Little Peppers Midway, 

••A perfect Cheeryble of a book.”— Boston Herald . 

Five Little Peppers Grown Up. 

This shows the Five Little Peppers as *' grown up,** with ali the 
struggles and successes of young manhood and womanhood, 

Phronsie Pepper. 

It Is tbs story of Phronsie, the youngest and dearest of all the Steppers. 
The Stories Polly Pepper Told. 

Wherever there exists a child or a ** grown-up,’* there will be a welcome 
for these charming and delightful “ Stories Polly Pepper told.’*i 

The Adventures of Joel Pepper. 

As bright and just as certain to be a child’s favorite as the others in the 

famous series. Harum-scarum “ Joey ” is lovable. 

Five Little Peppers Abroad 

The Peppers are just as original and delightful over the ocean as in their own 
home. 

Five Little Peppers at School 

Of all the fascinating adventures and experiences of the “ Peppers,” none will 
surpass those contained in this volume. 

Five Little Peppers and Their Friends 

The Peppers loved their friends very dearly. They were loyal and true to 
them, and the circle constantly widened. 

Ben Pepper 

This centres about Ben, “ The quiet, steady-as-a-rock boy,” while the rest of 
the Peppers help to make it as bright as its predecessors. 

Five Little Peppers in the Little Brown House 

Here they all are, Ben, Polly, Joel, Phronsie, and David, in the loved ‘‘Little 
Brown House,” with such happenings crowding one upon the other as all children 
delightedly follow, and their elders find no less interesting. 

Our Davie Pepper 

The boys and girls who have loved Davie in the other volumes will rejoice 
that now Our Davie has a book all his own, 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., Boston 


FOUR GORDONS 

By EDNA A. BROWN 

Illustrated Large 12mo Decorated Cover $1.50 net 


L OUISE and her three brothers are the Four 
Gordons,” and the story relates their ex* 
periences at home and school during the absence 
of their parents for a winter in Italy. There 
is plenty of fun and frolic, with skating, coast- 
ing, dancing, and a jolly Christmas visit. The 
conversation is bright and natural, the book 
presents no improbable situations, its atmos- 
phere is one cl refinement, and it has the merit 
of depicting simple and wholesome comradeship 
between boys and girls. 

“ The story and its telling are worthy of Miss Al- 
cott. Young folks of both sexes will enjoy it.” — 
N. T. Sun. 

“ It is a hearty, wholesome story of youthful life 
in which the morals are never explained but simply 
illustrated by logical results.” — Christian Register. 



UNCLE DAVID’S BOYS 


By EDNA A. BROWN 

Illustrated by Johfi Goss !2mo Cloth 
Price $1,50 net 



T HIS tells how some young people whom cir- 
cumstances brought together in a little moun- 
tain village spent a summer vacation, full of good 
times, but with some unexpected and rather mys- 
terious occurrences. In the end, more than one 
head was required to find out exactly what was 
going on. The story is a wholesome one with a 
pleasant, well-bred atmosphere, and though it 
holds the interest, it never approaches the sensa- 
tional nor passes the bounds of the probable. 


“A story which will hold the attention of youthful 
readers trom cover to coyer and prove not without its 
interest for older reader ^’’ — Evening Wisconsin . 

“For those young people who like a lively story 
yjvithaome unmistakably old fashioned characteristics, 
David’s Boys,’ will have a strong appeal.”— 
^Ch^rhman. ’ i 


for sale by all booksellers or seat postpaid on receipt of 
prlo by the publishers 


LOTHROP, LEE Sc SHEPARD CO., BOSTON 


DOROTHY BROWN 

By NINA RHOADES 

Illustrated by Elizabeth Wlthington Large 12mo 

Cloth $1.50 net 

'"T'RIS is considerably longer than the othei 
* books by this favorite writer, and with a 
more elaborate plot, but it has the same win- 
some quality throughout. It introduces the 
heroine in New York as a little girl of eight, 
but soon passes over six years and finds her at 
a select family boarding school in Connecticut. 
An important part of the story also takes place 
I at the Profile House in the White Mountains. 
The charm of school-girl friendship is finely 
brought out, and the kindness of heart, good 
sense and good taste which find constant ex- 
pression in the books by Miss Rhoades do not 
lack for characters to show these best of 
qualities by their lives. Other less admirable 
persons of course appear to furnish the alluring mystery, which is not 
all cleared up until the very last. 

“There will be no better book than this to put into the hands of a girl in 
her teens and none that will be better appreciated by her.” — Kennebec Journal 

MARION’S ' VACATION 

By NINA RHOADES 

Illustrated by Bertha Q. Davidson 12mo $1.25 net 

nr*HIS book is for {he older girls, Marion 
■I being thirteen. She has for ten years 
enjoyed a luxurious home in New York with 
the kind lady who feels that the time has now 
come for this aristocratic though lovable little 
miss to know her own nearest kindred, who 
are humble but most excellent farming people 
in a pretty Vermont village. Thither Marion 
is sent for a summer, which proves to be a 
most important one to her in all its lessons. 

“ More wholesome reading for half grown girls 
it would be hard to find ; some of the same lessons 
that proved so helpful in that classic of the last 
eneration ‘An Old Fashioned Girl* are brought 
ome to the youthful readers of this sweet and 
sensible story.” — Milwaukee Free Press. 


For sale by all booksellers , or sent postpaid on receipt of 

price by the publishers 

L0THR0P, LEE & SHEPARD CO., Boston 
















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